Module 2 Chapter 1 (page 16)

Chapter 1 - Shape and Form

Collections of different forms and shapes (some pages have spaces for more pictures and sketches).

Thin and spiky shapes

This one has a rounded form, but is made up of spiky tufts.

Pencil sketches (4B pencil)

I love the spiky shapes in this photo as well as the dramatic colours.

Pencil sketch of holly (above)

Pencil sketches of thin and spiky plants in 4B pencil (above).

Rounded Forms and Shapes

A pen drawing of this photo of a plant with rounded leaves (above)

A small pen sketch of these rounded flower forms (above)

A pen drawing of the rounded forms of these flower heads (above)

Lots of roses have rounded forms...

This rose head has a rounded form and also 'crinkly' edges (above)

Crinkly edges

Pen sketch of Bluebells (above)

 'Teardrop' forms and shapes

A pen sketch (above)

Other shapes and forms that I liked...

I love the colours in this close up of a leak and the interesting lines created by the veins.

This would possible make an interesting form for the tassel making exercise further on in the module.

Drawing and Stitching flowers

The same flower head, drawn in different sizes (above)

These tulips have a 'teardrop' form when closed, and each petal has a teardrop shape (below).

Chapter 1 Sample 1

My sketch - pen drawing of one of the tulips from the photo above. I have used cross hatching to show form.





Stitched Flowers

Black thread on calico, back with white felt. Creating the form was not as difficult as I thought it would be, although I was quite nervous about trying to draw straight onto fabric with thread. Once the outline was created, it became easier to fill in other parts of the picture, as I had point of reference to refer to. Deciding which parts to stitch inside the flower to show form was more difficult, and I found that I couldn't use as much stitch as pen for this, as it began to look a little heavy. I was quite please with the final result, although I think that some of my lines are too 'neat' for the cross hatching and I should have made these look a little more natural & 'free' for a more realistic effect (below).

Cefyn Burgess

Pictures of Cefyn's work...

I really enjoyed looking at Cefyn's work - especially the way in which he uses black thread as if he was drawing in pen. His work has quite a 'free' and light feel to it, almost as if he is sketching with the needle. I particularly liked the cup and saucer embroidery, which is very detailed and uses a variety of textures in the stitching. It looks as though this has been completed with a dark blue thread instead of black. This work is also quite 'quirky', which made me smile.

My own stitching in the style of Cefyn Burgess

Chapter 1 Sample 2 - Bluebells


My Sketch (black pen)

The stitched version...

I stitched the outline of the flowers first, going over each line twice with the black thread. Then I stitched some of the line details inside the flowers, as suggested by the original picture. I think that going over the lines twice made the lines look a little 'dead' and not drawn, as I had been intending, maybe because I tried to stick too closely to the first line of stiching, but I was please with the lighter stitching inside the flowers.

Chapter 1 Sample 3

The stitched version...

I think that I followed the correct proportions for the flowers in this version, but decided that this type of stitching lends itself to smaller, or more detailed flowers, with more lines.

Chapter 1 Sample 4

The stitched version...

With this sample, I tried to achieve a more 'drawn' effect by going over each line twice, and trying not to follow the same line exactly. I think that this design is more effective than the bluebells, but don't really like the big spaces inside each leaf.

Chapter 1 Sample 5

My sketch

The stitched version...

I was much more pleased with this sample as it has a 'drawn' feel about it. I felt that I moved my technique on with this piece, as I realised that I had to move the needle in the same direction as I would a pen or a pencil, when sketching. This did mean lifting the needle at the end of a line and moving the fabric to the start of the next line, but was much more effective, as was not worrying so much about being exact. I also like the combination of both straight and circular line making in this sample.

Grinling Gibbons

Examples of Grinling Gibbons' work

There are lots of rounded forms in this carving (the vase, faces & fruit) and these are contrasted against other shapes with feathered and crinkly edges (corn, leaves & wings). The focal point is the vase in the centre, and the rest of the carving cascades out and down at each side.

This close up shows the detail of this carving. Rounded forms are used again, e.g. the apple and the plums, and these are contrasted against the curled leaves and delicate flower shapes. The detail and realistic nature in the folded 'cloth' drape on the left hand side is quite amazing.

This carving again shows contrast between rounded forms, longer shapes and more textured details. I particularly like the spiral effect created by the flowers at the bottom.

This picture shows a close up of one of Grinling Gibbons' carvings. The focal point is the rounded, closed flower in the centre, and the other forms and shapes seem to 'spring' from this. There are lots of curved forms and shapes in this carving that gently cascade downwards. In the background, the seedheads and smaller flowers create a contrast with the larger forms in the foreground.

My sketch of a carving

This would be interesting to stitch because there are a variety of forms and shapes. Denser stitching could be used for shading inside the flowers/petals, to show form.


My Own Flower Arrangement

These were quite tricky to arrange and then photograph in a 'Gibbons' style, as it was difficult to recreate the flowing shapes that he used in the carvings. A few paperclips and pieces of string were involved! Also, I had to used glittery seedheads, as it was Christmas, and I couldn't find any natural ones anywhere. My husband had the idea to take the photo at an angle above the arrangement, and this really helped, as the petals of the roses could be seen more clearly.

The same arrangement in greyscale...

A Pen Sketch of  my Flower Arrangement

As my sketch is quite detailed, I decided not to include any cross-hatching to show form, as I thought this might make it look too 'busy'.

My Stitched Sample, taken from my sketch

Evaluation

This sample turned out better than I thought it would because I thought the amount of detail might make the stitched version look a little messy. I think that the overall shape is quite accurate when compared to the sketch, although I could have made the seedheads slightly larger. I enjoyed stitching the roses, and once I had completed the overall outline, sewed from the inside flower petals to the outside, as this created a more 'natural' effect. The chrysanthemums were the most difficult to sew, as they involved sewing lots of lines, but I used the technique that I developed of sewing the line as if I were drawing; taking the needle off the fabric at the end of each line and starting at the beginning of the next one. As the design was already quite detailed, I decided not to include any cross-hatching (as I had with my sketch), as this would look too busy/messy. If I were to do this again, I would probably swap the chrysanthemums for a more solid shape!

(time taken = 4 1/2 hours)

Creating a Void

My Arrangment of Vases and Jugs

My tracings of the outlines of the shapes

I decided to use the third tracing as the basis for my sewn sample and to only stitch in the background.

I used small circles of white thread to cover the background behind the vases and jugs. I decided not to stitch inside the shapes, as I wanted to see how much they would 'jump' off the page when finished. I didn't overlap many of the circles, as I thought there was probably enough coverage to show the void space and the form of the vases and jugs. The contrast between the background and the shapes is quite stark, and gives a 3 dimensional effect to the final picture. I didn't really enjoy working in black and white, but found the effect interesting to look at, and could see how this technique could be used in future projects.

Module 1 Chapter 10 - page 15

Chapter 10 - Stitching Colours, Line and Texture

Sample 1 - Stitch and a Blob

I liked the colour combination of the threads used here and the texture created by the 'blobs'! For the sample in the middle, I increased the stitch width on the machine, and this produced quite 'regular' blobs, but for the sample on the right, I created the blobs by moving the fabric from side to side, producing more irregular blobs (which I preferred).

Sample 2 - Stitch and a Squiggle

I enjoyed stitching these samples and used pink, gold and metallic turquoise threads. I think that these colours look really pretty together and that creating the squiggles was quite relaxing. The texture here is denser than the blobs, as more of the background fabric is covered.

Sample 3 - Round and round, backwards and forwards

I used lilac, purple and gold threads for these samples and these were my least favourite of the shapes to create (particularly the circles!) When I had finished, I didn't really like the colour combination either - it looks too cold and there isn't enough contrast between them. I think that I didn't really like all the stopping and starting between creating each shape - once I start stitching, I like to carry on!

Sample 4 - Doodle and Stitch

These shaped were taken from doodles that I found in my diary that I drew during meetings at worke. I always find myself doodling when I'm thinking & it was quite amusing to look back through my diary & reflect on what kind of mood I was in during the meetings! I have scanned in the original doodles, so some pictures have dates at the top. Sometimes I find it quite difficult to produce a design 'on demand' for a sample, so looking back at designs made when I wasn't trying threw up some interesting patterns. I used dark pink, purple, gold and orange threads for this sample, and like this colour combination as it is quite lively and 'warm'. My favourite design is the little flowers/fireworks pattern, although I also like the triangular spirals.

My doodles!

Resolved Sample, using line, colour and texture

Pottery by Patrick Caulfield

This has five basic shapes and uses curved lines. The colours used are very bright and bold and on first sight appear to be mainly primary colours (red, blue and yellow), but varying shades of secondary are also used (green, purple and orange). A 3D effect is created by the way that the rims of the vases have been drawn and by making the background shapes smaller than the ones in the foreground.

Resolved Sample

My Design

I decided to choose green, purple and red as my darker colours for the design, with orange and a touch of yellow as the lighter colours. My first thoughts were to go for squiggles and spirals, but when I stood and looked at the design, I thought that the stitching would be too similar - the texture of the final piece wouldn't have enough variety. Perhaps there are too many lines and not enough 'blobs'? Also, could I use the same pattern of stitching for each colour? E.g. orange = spirals, red = squiggles.

Resolved Sample 1

I wanted to see what my design would look like on a light coloured background, so chose an orange piece of satin that I prepared earlier in Module 1. This was backed with white felt. I kept some of the original coloures in my own drawing (purple, green and red), but changed the yellow to gold and the orange to a bronze thread, as I thought that orange would be too similar to the background.

All the threads I used to stitch inside the enclosed spaces were metallic, and the outline colour was a deep pink. I also changed some of the stitching shapes from my original drawing, as I thought that there wasn't enough contrast in the types of stitching I had planned for or variety in texture. I did decide to use the same pattern of stitching for each colour, e.g. spirals for the bronze thread, green for the 'stitch and a blob'. For the 'squiggle' sections, I stitched quite heavily - going over the pattern again and again, so not much of the background material showed through. I was pleased with the effect that providing more variety in texture created, particularly the difference in how much of the background showed through, depending on which pattern I chose. The darker colours provide quite a good contrast against the orange background, but I wasn't sure that the ideas quite 'gelled' together as I had intended.

(time spent = 2 1/2 hours)

Resolved sample 2

For this version, I chose black felt as my background, which I also backed with black felt. I stuck to the same stitch colours that I chose in my original drawing (green, purple, red, orange and yellow) but used the stitching patterns that I used for the sample with the orange background, as I liked the variety in texture it created. The outlines of the shapes were stitched in gold thread.

Overall, I much prefer this sample, as the black background allows the colours of the stitching to 'pop' out. The green stitching looks much denser in this sample, although it isn't, because there is not so much contrast with the background colour. This reminded me of Christmas baubles hanging from a tree, but my husband thought they looke more like Moroccan towers! It was quite difficult to photograph this sample, as the ligh made the background look 'grey', but the stitching didn't photograph well in darker lighting.

(time spent = 2 1/2 hours)

Checklist for Module 1

Authentication Photos - Module 10 Resolved Sample

Freddie & Lola - October 2011

Chilling out on the settee...

Lola - Everyone should know that I'm a princess!

Freddie - Listening to music on a Sunday afternoon...

Module 1 - Chapter 9 (Page 14)

Chapter 9 - Playing with Primaries

Sample 1

I find these colours quite 'jarring' together and I found that the red dominated the sample, with the yellow almost 'disappearing' into the background. I wouldn't normally use these colours together as although they are dynamic and energetic together, they are also quite harsh as a colour combination.

Sample 2

For the second sample with automatic patterns, I chose a stitch that had lots of open space to see how this affected the overall result. This was almost like making a tint with white paint, as the overall effect is much softer and less dramatic than using satin stitch. I found this much more pleasing and would possible use this as a technique in the future.

Sample 3

I enjoyed experimenting with secondary colours and  found that although using satin stitch produced a dramatic and dynamic effect like the primary colours, that the result was slightly less harsh, although probably still not one that I would use if choosing my own colour scheme. I found that the purple would start to dominate easily, if not carefully used.

Sample 4

When trying the same secondary colours with an automatic stitch, I chose a slightly more closed, flower shape to see how this differed from the automatic pattern in Sample 2. Using an open stitch again had the effect of producing a lighter tint than the original shade and I could see possibilities for further use in the future.

Sample 5

For sample 5, I layered yellow stitching with its complimentary purple. Bearing in mind that the purple had a tendency to dominate the colour scheme in sample 3, I was careful to use enough yellow for this not to happen. I didn't really like the final result, as the yellow doesn't 'blend' into the purple, even though they are stitched over each other.

Sample 6

For sample 6, I used red and its complimentary colour, green. I was more pleased with the effect I achieved with this experiment, as the colours seem to blend together in some areas and almost create brown where the stitching is dense. Perhaps this was because the flower stitch that I chose was more 'closed' than the stitch I used for sample 5?

Sample 7

For this sample, I chose a very 'open' tulip shaped stitch (No. 66), used in reverse directions across calico. I was really pleased with the scribbly, random effect that this produced, and the way that the colours seemed to blend together where the stitching was layered. This is a stitch and used of colours that I would definitely choose to use in the future if trying to mix colours through stitch.


Sample 8

For sample 8, I used the tulip shaped automatic stitch (No.66) that I  used for sample 7. I wanted the colours to blend together, rather than oppose each other, so used secondary colours next to the primary colours that made them. The darker tonal colours, like purple, blue and red blended together more successfully than the lighter ones (e.g. yellow), but I was pleased with the  effect that using yellow under green and next to blue created. This was less jarring than layering only the yellow over blue.

Colour Grading - Sample 9

For this sample, I chose to create different shades of yellow, using a mixture of threads. I used two different coloured threads through the needle for every other shade and went over the single colours twice, to achieve the same thickness and texture. I was particularly pleased with the lighter colours that I created and the gradual change in shades, but did find that the heavy stitching pulled the fabric quite alot.

Stitch width = 5.1
Stitch length = 0.4

Colours used (Madeira threads, unless stated):
Brown 1145
Light brown 1126
Mustard yellow 1025
Golden yellow 1024
Light golden yellow No. 20 (Coats)
Acid yellow 1223
Lemon 1023
White

Monet and Colour

Monet started out as a tonalist. He later chose the impressionist approach because he wanted to study the effects of light on the objects around him. Monet painted on canvas which was a light color, such as white, very pale gray or very light yellow and used opaque colors. A close-up study of one of Monet's paintings will show that colors were often used straight from the tube or mixed on the canvas, but that he also scumbled colours (using thin, broken layers of paint that allows the lower layers of color to shine through).

Monet build up texture through his brushstrokes, which vary from thick to thin, with tiny dabs of light, adding contours for definition and color harmonies, working from dark to light.

He used quite a limited range of colours in his palette:

lead white, chrome yellow, cadmium yellow, viridian green, emerald green, French ultramarine, cobalt blue, madder red, and vermilion.

You will see some ivory black in his paintings before 1886, but he abandoned it for his later work and used more vibrant colours to mix his greys.

How to Paint like Monet- Use Broken Colours: Visual Colour Mixing

To paint like Monet, you will need to use a technique called “visual mixing.”

Monet did this by, for example, putting a stroke of pure red right next to a stroke of pure yellow. Side by side, the two spots of colour produce a rich and vibrant orange.

He also laid in large masses of vibrant colour first. Then he would apply strokes of pure colours over them to enrich the original colour masses.

As an example, see the chart below for mixing orange.

The first spot on the far left is orange colour straight from the

tube. The second is a juxtaposition of pure yellow and pure

red side by side. The middle spot uses the same yellow laid

on top of a wet spot of red.

The fourth is the result of yellow mixed into red using a wet

 into dry technique (scumbling—painting opaque or semi-

opaque colours over dried darker colours). It is almost the

same as the third, but more vibrant. The last patch on the far

right is the result of directly mixing the red and yellow paint.

You can see that the second, the fourth and the fifth

 spots seem more vibrant and interesting. The colours are not

 only mixed but seem to vibrate.

Monet mixed his colours using either a wet into wet

 technique or scumbling (wet colour spots on dried layers).

 He would mix a series of secondary colours on the

 palette, and placed them side by side or, dabbed them

 all over keeping the colour spots separate.

Examples of Monet's Work

Sunrise

Water Lily Pond

Water Lily Pond Evening (left side panel )

Waterlilies - my version

This version was painted with watercolours, using a mixture of purples, reds, blue, green, yellow and orange. I dabbed the colours next to each other, using the end of a small paintbrush, to recreate the effect that Monet used in his original paintings. I also waited for some layers of paint to dry, before dabbing over the top of them with a different colour.

Stitched Sample 10 - Waterlilies

I used black felt as a background for this sample and used the 'tulip' shaped automatic stitch (No. 66) that I used for my previous 'playing with primaries' samples. I chose this stitch because it gives a very 'free' almost scribbly effect when used in different directions. I started by stitching the purple sections and layered the other colours over each other to give an impression of my own painting. I stitched quite heavily, but let some of the black background show through. This took around 9 hours to complete, and I could have carried on layering the colours over each other, but I felt that this would be overdoing the stitching. I was pleased with the overall sample, particularly  where the darker colours blend together and seem to create new colours.

Colours used:
Purple 1122
Blue 1134
Dark green 1051
Turquoise green 1301
Red 1147
Orange 1278
Lilac 1080
Golden yellow 1024