So… two days ago, I suddenly felt the urge to leave known waters and find a new challenge. I always wanted to be able to sketch more spontaneously and I decided to try to practice just that. Of course, it would have to be in “my” medium, embroidery thread and a needle!
I already tried threadsketching two years ago, but in a more random manner and without a concept. This is one of these early threadsketches:
The concept I now have is to sketch with embroidery floss in three colors of the same color family: one for the midtones, one for the highlights and one for the shadows. The picture is not to be fully filled but rather a great part of the background should also be seen. The background should be high quality fabric (such as silk) and again of the same color family. I aim to create somewhat monochrome pieces without big contrast.
This is my first try:
The piece is relatively small (10 x 10 cm). At first, I also stitched the eye (with a tiny french knot), but the stitch was somehow “lost” within the other stitches and did not give the bird much character… So I tried a roccailles bead and then decided to go with glass beads for all the pieces of this series.
I want to keep practicing and practicing and practicing… until I grow way more spontaneous in my stitch placing and can sketch more quickly. (Mr. Raven took me approx. 2 hours flat.) Also, I want to gain enough expertise to finally eliminate unpicking… (had to unpick half of Mrs Vixen yesterday as her proportions were not right).
My ultimate goal so far is to be able to capture movement with stitch… let’s see where this path leads to…