Having Doubts…
You may recall that I became concerned about the wall and the colours beside Aethelflaed’s riding dress. I filled in some stones, and had even more doubts.
Cheshire sandstone is an absolute horror to depict in stitch or paint – every time I’ve tried in the past I’ve missed in one direction or another. So I’m not especially concerned that this version is proving exasperating too. I just need to find a way to create something I can live with. And indeed, something that Aethelflaed can live with!
The sensible thing seemed to be to do the back panel of the dress and then look seriously at the combination. So here we are, back panel of the dress, including the bright, dramatic, interlaced pattern on the border.
I do need to retweak the highlight on the skirt, somehow, but I have dress and the border in place, and I think the wall colours are definitely going need a bit of tweaking.
So with the idea in mind of blending colours to make the walls sit back from Aethelflaed a little more quietly, I did some experimentation.
Now I have to make some decisions, of course!
I had to google Cheshire Sandstone to see what it looks like. Most images were rather pale with accents of white. If that is what you want, I think you will get a good contrast to Aethelflead’s riding costume.
Distance lightens, greys and dulls. Also moss and lichen, soot and mud, dust and dirt, shadow, rainwater,… you can grey a fair bit, to soften the colour and distract. The darkening of wet walls might be the easiest get out.