It's All In the Preparation!

I have started off Module 1 by reading through the Students Handbook and module several times, and thinking carefully about what I need to achieve, what I need to research more, where I can find information, the bits I am going to find more difficult and of course what resources I will need. I am a bit of a planner and organizer so I like to gather as much as I can before starting anything so I can really get stuck in without interruption. I made some rough notes to myself to keep handy.

To improve my level of technical skills I need to concentrate on the design and colour aspects in particular - or the bits I usually avoid! Fortunately I have had my mother in law for a visit, who is an artist, and we had some in depth discussion about the colour wheel. We also spent some time poring over paint in various shops. I have also had lots and lots of encouragement and help from the lovely Denise at Craft Arena.

I decided to purchase some of the books from the list and check which ones are available from the local library.

 

 

This was well worth doing before I started because I have been able to do lots of background reading. I'm going to review books on a separate blog page, but Colour Works by Deb Menz is fabulous and exactly what I need. I am sure I will use this again and again.

 

I am going to keep records on the blog, both on separate blog pages and noted down in my working sheets etc.

 

The Student Handbook has a section on 'Stretching Yourself' and this is definitely what I need to do. So to that ends I decided to choose a colour scheme and start collecting bits from my stash and when I'm browsing in shops so that I am more focused - I tend to magpie bits and pieces if I'm just let loose, and fall back on what I am comfortable with.  I would usually choose red/gold/green and very much traditional/historical colours, so I have picked something I am not very relaxed with.

 

 

 

I had all of this stashed, although not grouped together. I probably need to review my storage and my stash with new eyes. I'm guessing more colour study is going to help with this!

 

 

Now onto Chapter 1.