Susan Carlson Fabric Collage: Cicada—Second Draft Annotations

In last week’s post I showed how I reacquainted myself with my cicada collage begun almost a year ago, and then set aside for awhile. What was helpful is that before it went back into hibernation, I had completed the first draft and dabbled a bit into the second draft.

I like to use the idea of drafts as steps to make the process more approachable and manageable—helping to take away the potential overwhelm of the project as a whole. The first draft is usually the most time consuming since the idea is that the foundation fabric—including subject and background—is covered up with the first layer of fabric pieces. So depending on subject and background, that might take awhile.

Last week I trimmed and adjusted the background of my cicada, tacked the first draft fabric pieces in place–with my (now) handy dandy Tacky Glue, removed the pins, and gave a sigh of accomplishment. The first draft (see photo above) is done. Is there more to do? Of course! After all, my motto is “more is better.”

The second draft is where I take note of what I especially like about the in-progress work, but also what might be standing out in a way I’m not so happy with. Is there anything that I’d like to add “more” of? Anything to be edited, covered up, or removed?

Today I’ll demonstrate how I analyze my collage for the second draft through Zoom annotation tools and a YouTube video, below:

Camera Shots of Selected Points in Video

Starting with the wings, there are already second draft additions that I marked up on the left wing. I’m happy with them so I’ll repeat the same sorts of details on the right wing. Now that the sky is in place, the blue “bump” on the bottom of the right wing blends with the background. The same bump is on the left wing but has been altered with a couple sheer fabrics to blend better with the butterfly. I’m not convinced of that little area yet and will give it further thought as I move along.
Looking closer at the cicada body, I’m satisfied for now but will try adding more yellow/orange tones down the lower center, as highlights to “round-out” the abdomen. The legs may benefit with highlights of their own by adding small pieces of a light aqua lacy fabric that I have.
In addition to (or instead of) adding highlights to the legs, darkening the tree behind the body may give me the contrast I’m looking for, to better define the skinny legs. In the sky to the right, I had added “swirls of air currents” using fussy-cut designs in a few fabrics. I like the way they added movement to the background and will add more of the same to the sky on the left.
The fun of annotating can be seen in this photo as it got so very messy with scribbles. I finished my second draft analysis with looking at the “negative space” the background creates in comparison to the shape of the wings. Adding more leafy branches would mirror the spread of the tree’s roots—which might make an interesting composition.

When I teach online and annotate photos as I talk with my students, a tip I learned from them (especially from Grace Crocker and a few others) is to print out the annotated photos as a reference, or checklist, to work from. That’s a pretty good idea as I get back to my own pinning board and put these second draft ideas to work. See you next week!

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