Embroidered Collage

Before I could start the stitching I needed to alter the coloring on the background from the simple paint and collage version in my last post.

I used ink pads, just stamping the full squares into the canvas with an uneven pressure so the whole rectangle was not printed.  I also used a few bits of print blocks I'd carved for other projects.  I thought it looked great.  A few days later I tried to use matte varnish to seal everything in and the pigment ink started running!  Aaargh.  So all the colors ended up blended a bit more than I intended.  Next time I need to either wait longer, use a spray fixative, or find a spray acrylic.  I was still pleased with result, but I liked it better the other way.

I started the stitching by outlining the tree shape, because that was the part I was most certain I wanted in the piece.  I had originally been thinking of a pale beige, but with the reduction in value contrasts caused by putting on the varnish I went even lighter, to an off-white.  I had also been thinking of whipping the back-stitch, but decided I liked it the way it was.

For the leafy bits I wanted to pull out some of the bright green that I started with.  I picked feather stitch for its organic look and the ability to twist and turn a bit, similar to the tendrils in Marissa's printed papers.  At first I only did the lengths on the left and the one on the bottom right - and then my mind blanked, even though I still had time to stitch that evening.  I thought that might be all I needed, but it bothered me that there was no greenery in the upper right.

A couple nights later, when I had time to stitch again, I knew where I wanted to put the stitching.  Instead of one long strand I'd do two shorter ones.  The grassy bits at the bottom were a last minute addition.  I'm not sure they'll show up much when I actually wrap the canvas.  We'll see.

I had considered stitching additional squares of windows in a dark outline, but decided that I wanted to emphasize the greenery portion and have the city effect be in the background.  I also considered adding some great flat beads I had in similar colors to the background, but decided that only having beads on the bird would be more effective in drawing attention to it as the focal point.

See the previous post on this work in progress.

Two different treatments using the same hand-carved stamp on the complex background that I created earlier.

I like the first one better.  I collaged a little bit of lace paper to the background, then stamped over it in gold.  The butterfly didn't stand out much, so I outlined all the key features in black pen.  I still wasn't quite happy, so filled in some of the areas with colored inks. 

Part of me says - STITCH.  Part of me says - But it looks DONE.  I'd probably add just a bit of gold metallic along the tops of the wings if I did add stitch.

The second one is more fun than the first.  First I added some green lines to spice up the background, then stamped in a muted yellow and then added more colors with liquid acrylics.  This one is destined for a vivid rainbow colors swap so all the colors of the rainbow had to be included.

 I used the butterfly stamp to develop a background for some other swaps.  I laid down a set of blue butterflies diagonally on heavy watercolor paper and then laid down a set of purple ones diagonally across them.  When I cut it up into smaller rectangles you won't be able to see the butterflies, just the patterning.

 Next I did a wash with a blue liquid acrylic.  I adhered some bits of a light blue mulberry paper and let it dry.  Then I added drops of different darker colors and dabbed at them with paper towels, using those to both break up the drop and to spread the color in an uneven pattern to other parts of the paper.  I thought it turned out interesting and complex, as planned.

I needed a hand-pulled print for a Spring-themed swap and decided to do a butterfly.  I picked an interesting one from a Dover Pictura book and sketched it in the upper left of the grid.  I knew that would only give me so much understanding of what would happen when I carved, based on past experience.  So then I did the butterfly on the upper right - first shading the entire area in with a 6B pencil and then using a kneaded eraser to remove sections.

  I knew that I could get a little more detail when I carved the soft block, but I still basically followed the shapes I had set up in the sketch.  I stamped the image in the middle right block for a record.  The carved block itself and one of the prints for the swap are shown in the second picture.  I used a purple metallic stamp pad because I've had such a frustrating time with Speedball's block printing ink.  I can never get a thin enough layer brayered down on the block that it really looks good when printed.

I continued to elaborate on the theme in the grid in my sketchbook and did an enlarged version of the original Dover design in the upper portion, trying to capture the rhythm of the patterning.  It felt really good to be doing sketchbook work again.  I also liked using the Prismacolor Art Stix as my primary drawing medium.  The mark is wider and I feel like I can draw a bit looser with the rectangular stick than with the usual colored pencil.

Time for another round of decorating paper.  This time I expanded on last year's efforts with printfoam, craft acrylics, and colored card-stock.  I made four printing plates, instead of two, just drawing with the wrong end of a paintbrush.

I used a pack of 12x12 cardstock in shades of blue, light green, and cream.  I bought craft acrylics in a couple shades of blue and a couple shades of cream.  I applied the paint to the printfoam printing plate with a wide foam sponge brush. It took a few tries to get the right amount on.  In a number of pages that first print is very blurred.  The second night I printed over the sheets again, generally, although not always, with a different pattern.

I liked my results and reserved a few of them for myself.  But I added another step to the pages I was contributing to the swap.  I used my Art Stix, the Prismacolor colored pencils in stick form, to add circles or waves or shading to each page.  Some still look oceanic and some just look interesting.  I'm very happy with them.  25 pages down and only 5 more to go.

I actually completed one of these a little early!  And I have another partially done, but no idea on what to do for my third.  I found the frost watercolor and monoprint from a couple months ago and the idea of cold made me very happy, as it was very hot here for a couple weeks.  So I built up on the snow. :)  Of course, I won't like the idea come shoveling time, but that will be then and this is now.