Stage 6 Combining textures and colour effects:
Exercise 1
I started by grading French knots, red through to orange. In the centre I have grouped them very closely but spaced them out as you get to the edge
I started by grading French knots, red through to orange. In the centre I have grouped them very closely but spaced them out as you get to the edge
Next using pastel colours I graded through the colour wheel first very densely then more spaced out.The black background seems to make the colours more intense.
Lastly just for the fun of it I stitched some knots onto a piece of Felt I had made a last May.
Exercise 2
Working from a photograph of a Suffolk landscape I planned my last piece. I wanted to emphasise horizontal lines and the empty sky.
Initially I was planning to just use horizontal lines but when I started stitching the effect was not very dynamic. I then decided to stitch striped horizontal areas of colour, adding some vertical stitching to balance things out a little. The base fabric was a blue cotton with brown organza for the earth. I have added some white to the sky as it seemed a little lost when I had finished the stitching.
I am pleased overall with the finished sample, the stitching needs to go right to the edge and I think if I were to work with this image more I would like to create a textured background first before stitching. I could also make the horizontal stripes all greens and yellows and balance the red of the buildings on the horizon with French Knot Poppies rather than the earth path and reeds. But then again the thing I love about this landscape is the blandness of it. The calm lines and the big sky. The fact you can see the town on the horizon but they are just tiny blobs. Perhaps what it needs is for the vertical reeds to be longer to give more of a sense of depth. Anyway not too bad for a first go.