When I begin stitching a lighthouse with a white tower, I usually do at least part of the tower itself before starting on the sky in the background. Let's just say that, in the case of the Fenwick Island lighthouse, I got a little carried away with the sunrise concept for the sky! So with that in place, the next order of business was to work on the tower.
I wanted a good contrast between lighthouse and background, as well as a stitch which hinted at the brick construction of the tower. So I chose a horizontal diagonal cashmere stitch in white DMC floss. The lantern room, stairs, and gallery below were stitched with black DMC #5 perle cotton to add some visual weight to these areas. Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #02 in a spring stitch formed the beacon.
The fence was worked in a combination of tent and slanted gobelin stitches over two threads with white DMC #5 perle cotton, and the stairs to the doorway were worked in a Scotch stitch variation with DMC #5 perle cotton #642.
Shading around the window, doorway and fence, as well as the little outbuilding peeking through the fence at bottom left, was worked in tent stitches with DMC floss #415, while the window and door itself used DMC floss #413.
I've worked up the "recipe" for the sky at sunrise as a word document which I'll be happy to share, at no charge, to anyone with a canvas of his/her own which might benefit from a sky with "special effects"--no need to re-invent the wheel!
2 comments:
This is coming to life! It's amazing what one can do with just cotton thread and a touch of metallic. I'm loving my instructions you sent for the sunrise, and have a shape drawn onto canvas for practice. Thanks for your generosity in sharing.
This is really unique.. I think it'll be a stand-out on the tree with your other lighthouses. Great idea, design and colors!
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