The Importance of Backgrounds

As I stated in my last post I am talking today about the importance of choosing the right background fabric. I chose Jinny's daffodil for this demo because her's was the most complete flower in the class.

This photo shows two pieces behind the daffodil. We only had small pieces of both these fabrics to work with and I wanted to see both colors behind the flower.

The dark purple on the right is my favorite of all the colors we used. Often the opposite of a color on the wheel makes a great choice.

This green is certainly not a bad choice. If you really wanted the flower to look as if its in a natural setting then this would be your choice.

In my opinion this one actually gags me. I don't think it does anything for the impact.

This particular piece of blue was not right but I wanted Jinny and the class the see it against blue. I like it but Jinny is not a blue person so that won't be her choice.

I try not to press my likes and dislikes on my students. I know from experience that if I don't like something I may never finish it or show it to anyone.

This was a teal colored batik that works OK but doesn't really go WOW!

This brick/red may have been the favorite of the class. I believe Jinny favored this one. It would be my second choice as I feel the dark purple had the real WOW factor. However, this would make a lovely wall hanging and think Jinny should be proud to hang it anywhere.

It is my opinion that the background of a graphic piece such as a flower, insect or animal is the most important fabric you can choose for you wall hanging. I try to get my students to see that it's really important to wait until after the image is created before making the decision on what fabric to use.

I often suggest that they try opposites on the color wheel because that usually works best, not always but often. I like to show the students in my class options, as we have above of Jinny's piece, so they can see the big difference that background color makes.