150 African textiles from the enormous Karun Thakar Collection filled the gallery (till 14 December); I've
posted some already, do have a look. These few contain items that various people chose to draw.
It took me a long time to stop looking&looking and settle down, but finally this fante flag grabbed me. The "tank" was larger and I was tempted, back at home, to rub most of it out or even start again, but I hadn't taken a photo. So it was a matter of sticking with what was there -
My first thought was to add a quick wash of black as background, but somehow I carried on and on with the coloured pencils, with podcasts for company, until time ran out. No water touched the page.
And there was this collection from the gallery, quickly done -
Ah the laboriousness of depicting each stitch!
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| Najlaa found two "men's cloths", from Sierra Leone and from Togo |
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| The talismanic cloth... |
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| ... rendered by Mags ... |
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| ... along with hats from Cameroon |
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| Jo found metalwork... |
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| ... including lots of animal rings |
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| ... and a woven cat in "the indigo room" |
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| Sue's pastel rendering of weft threads... |
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| ... another technique ... |
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| ... and a hat |
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| ... from the bottom shelf |
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| Judith's fante flag |
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| A detail from the original - note the machine-stitched guns |
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| Carol was drawn to the Akan gold rings, Ghana, 18th and 19th century |