Kaleidoscope Fun Part 3

Last week I shared some fun ways that I use kaleidoscopes in quilt designs. In Part 1 I showed how I create kaleidoscopes using Kaleidoscope Kreator, then import them back into the program to create a new look. In Part 2 I showed how to use a kaleidoscope with a simple layer to create a medallion center for a quilt.

As easy and fun as those two techniques are, what I most enjoy is using kaleidoscopes as part of digital collages. When I made my DVD, Digital Collage for Quilt Design, the one thing that I most wanted folks to take away from it was that you can use any image - photo, scanned documents or objects, drawings, paintings etc. - as part of a digital collage. If you look at my quilts (here and here) you'll see that I certainly use photographs in my collages, but also a variety of other image types.

Using a variety of image types in your digital collages can add texture, depth, and a more painterly looking result. It's really a way to personalize your art! In all the examples below I imported the kaleidoscopes into Photoshop and combined them with other images.

So how have I used kaleidoscopes in digital collages? Let's see

This background was created by heavily manipulating a feathered kaleidoscope, then copying it three times and arranging the images in a square.

Here the kaleidoscope has been cropped and used as a background for a silhouette. It's a very graphic look.

Again, a heavily manipulated kaleidoscope used as a background. Doesn't it remind you of a batik?

Using various transparencies for the kaleidoscope layers creates a fill for the butterfly, as well as the "frame" of feathers.

The "fancy" part of the background kaleidoscope was selectively removed, leaving a graphic, sun like design.

Yet another heavily manipulated kaleidoscope forms the background.

The "sprig" layer is placed on a kaleidoscope background. Because of the transparency of the "sprig" layer the background acts as a fill for the buds. I could easily extract the black background and use this design element on a different composition.

I love symmetry, but for my collages my focal point is generally not the kaleidoscope. As you can see I instead use them as  background elements, fills,  or textures. The framing effect a kaleidoscope can add to a composition is particularly appealing to me.

I hope you've enjoyed this series of posts - they were certainly fun for me! I'd love to hear how you use kaleidoscopes in your quilts too.

Kaleidoscope Fun Part 2

In my last post I shared a simple technique for creating a kaleidoscope in Kaleidoscope Kreator, then importing the saved Kaleidoscope back into the program for further manipulation. Today I'll show an easy digital layering technique for creating the center of a medallion quilt. (If you are not familiar with the Kaliedoscope Kreator program, which I'll call KK from now on, you can refer to my original post, or go to the KALcollections website for more information.)

I'm lucky to write a column called Filler Finesse for Machine Quilting Unlimited.  Each issue I show how to quilt three filler designs, including a written description, diagrams, and stitch outs of each filler. I also create a composition where I use all three fillers. In every issue I try to make the composition a little different. The first three issues of this year I made pictorial compositions (see an example here), but I wanted to switch things up a little for the next three. Here's the example from the July/August issue:

When I first started quilting the part I loved the most was the piecing. I've pieced many a sharp point in my day, but honestly didn't want to do that for this design. OK, this may seem like cheating, but for this little wall hanging I decided to use a couple of different software programs to create the look I wanted. It was much faster than piecing!

First I used Electric Quilt to create the blue rays. Briefly, I modified the block "Dean's Sunflower Sun", found in the Contemporary Pieced, Sun Compasses library. I simplified the block so that it consisted only of the rays, and then used the block by itself in a quilt layout. Then I exported that image as a jpeg. I originally saved the "quilt" with black rays, and later changed the background to red and the rays to blue in Photoshop.

The compass as it appeared when exported out of Electric Quilt

I used the magic wand tool in Photoshop to change the color of the rays and background

The next step was to use KK to create the feathered star in the center. I started with a photograph of a sunset that has a lovely gradation of oranges in the sky. Using a feathered star template it was a snap to create the star that I wanted, then save the star as a jpeg.

I imported the feathered star into Photoshop and created a duplicate of the background layer.  I used the magic wand tool to select and then clear the white background from the duplicate layer, leaving me with just the feathered star. I then dragged the star over the red, white, and blue compass.

I resized the star to fit the center circle, adjusted my colors a little, and voila, my cheater panel was complete! I printed it as large as I could (13"x13" on my printer), then added the blue borders. All of those solid colors provided a great canvas to show off my fillers.

Stay tuned for Part 3 of this series on ways I use  Kaleidoscope Kreator in my work, where I'll show how I've used kaleidoscopes in digital collages for art quilts.

Kaleidoscope Fun Part 1

I've been meaning to write a post about Kaleidoscope Kreator for a long time. It's a very fun, and very easy to use, software program that creates beautiful kaleidoscopes from your images. The more I thought about it, I realized that I really need to write three separate posts to show some of the ways I use it for my digital art.

Kaleidoscope Kreator is a very simple program to use. Basically you open the program, import an image from your computer, then select shapes from a template library to use in creating the kaleidoscope.  There are videos on the Kaleidoscope Kreations website that show how to do this.

Once your image is open the fun begins. By simply moving the image around the kaleidoscope changes, just as turning the outside of a real kaleidoscope changes what you see. Mesmerizing and fun! Though beautiful straight out of the program, the images can also be used in creative ways in conjunction with other software programs to create a wide variety of images.

In this post, Part 1, I'll show how I create kaleidoscopes, then import them back into the program to create a new look. Part 2 will show how to use a kaleidoscope with a simple layer to create a medallion center for a quilt, while in Part 3 I'll share how I've used kaleidoscopes as layers in digital collages for art quilts.

Obviously I love to play with digital images (as you can see in my DVD, Digital Collage for Quilt Design From Start to Finish). As I started to use Kaleidoscope Kreator (from here on out I'll call it KK) I wondered what would happen if I created a kaleidoscope, then brought it back into the program and played with it some more? Well, let's see!!

Here's a digital collage that I created in Photoshop. It has many layers, and I didn't keep track of what they all are, but I do know that the grid part is from a photo of duct tape residue, and the circle is a dome inside the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

I love this image on its own, but decided to play with it some in KK. Of course, photographs produce beautiful kaleidoscopic designs, but what can I say, I love to experiment!

I imported my image into KK, and chose a feather template. (If you wish to see a larger image, just click on the photo for a clearer view.)

This is a screen shot of my image in the program. I added the red ellipse to highlight where the feather is since the contrast is low here. In this instance I used the eyedropper tool to change the background of the kaleidoscope from the default (white) to a color that was already in my image.

Here is the resulting kaleidoscope, which is visible in the top right corner of the screenshot above. Pretty, right?

When I'm planning on using this process of reimporting a kaleidoscope for further manipulation, I like to choose one of the more lacy templates for my initial shape, as shown below:

(These templates are add-ons to the initial program.)

I saved this kaleidoscope, then opened the saved file in the program, as seen below.

Here I used a simpler, more solid template shape. And here's the resulting kaleidoscope:

A whole different look, and wouldn't this look great as yardage, or a note card? By reimporting the image a whole new world of designs is possible.

For one of my Quilting Arts TV projects (directions for which are available here) I designed a simple purse with a kaleidoscope flap.

 (For this kaleidoscope I imported the digital design for this quilt, and the original template I chose was one of the filigrees.)

As with anything digital, the options are endless! Stay tuned for Parts 2 and 3 of this series, where I'll show some other ways I've used Kaleidoscope Kreator.

Full disclosure: Back in early 2011 I was given the opportunity to use Kaleidoscope Kreator to design a project for QATV (episode 810). I was given a copy of the software, and add-on templates, to use, and compensated for making the project. However, Kaleidoscope Kreator was on my list of things to try out, so eventually I would have tried it out on my own. I'm simply writing these posts to share some fun ways I've used the program.

Happy Fourth of July!!

Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday!

Materials Matter

Since I didn't go to art school, for a long time it didn't occur to me that the result of making art work - with paints, dyes, or inks - was heavily dependent on the surface to which it was applied. Painting on watercolor paper certainly gives a different result from painting on canvas, right? The same holds true with printing on fabric using an ink jet printer. Over the years I've printed my digital collages on a variety of fabrics, both pretreated and ones I've treated myself with Bubble Jet Set. One thing I haven't been afraid to do is experiment. New products come out all the time, and occasionally old ones fall by the way side.

I recently tried printing on two new-to-me fabrics in this spirit of experimentation. The photo below shows two print outs of the same kaleidoscope (created using Kaleidoscope Kreator), printed using the exact same settings, on different brands pretreated silk fabrics.

It's pretty obvious that I'd choose the right hand fabric, Jacquard Fabrisign II, over the left hand fabric. That said, I have a pigment ink printer (an Epson 2200), and that fabric clearly works better for me with my printer. However, a different ink formulation might work better on the left hand fabric. The lesson? Don't be afraid to experiment! Better to test out several small samples on a few types of fabric than to get started on a big project and end up with disappointing results. And remember, experimenting can be fun! I can always screen print over less than optimum prints, or use them as a background for something. I wish you happy printing!
 

Quilting Arts TV Filming

Wow! I just got back from taping 3 segments for Quilting Arts TV Series 800. What a wonderful experience! I haven't unpacked yet, but wanted to quickly share a few photos. The first one is right before (and I mean mere moments before) taping for segment 2 began.

Pokey and me and lots of kaleidoscopes. I can't say enough good things about the fantastic Kaleidoscope Kreator software I used for this segment.

Each guest sets up a tray with everything needed for a segment. The tray is taken to the set, everything is arranged for the shoot, then it gets put back on the tray to be taken to the green room when the segment is complete. The photo below shows how a tray looks after a segment (on the left), and the right hand tray is before a segment. You can see some thermofax screens in the plastic bag to the right, and some paper towels, waiting to be put on a tray for the third segment.


After my segments were finished Lindsey Murray took a short video of Pokey interviewing me in the green room to put on the IQA facebook page.

I met several wonderful artists - Vivika Denegre, Judith Trager, Faith Cleary, and Carol Taylor - and of course the great Quilting Arts and KS Productions folks. I'll post some more photos later this week.