Whenever I stitch a canvas of a human--or heavenly--form, I like to work the face first so I have something smiling back at me as I progress with the rest of the canvas. In the case of Judy Harper's December angel, with her hands gracefully posed in prayer, I hope she's thinking good thoughts so I don't goof this one up!
The face was worked in backetweave with four plies of DMC floss #948, stitching over the eyebrows painted on the canvas and skipping over the eyelids, nose, mouth and throat shading. I then added the mouth in tent stitches with DMC floss #3354 and the other areas with DMC floss #754. The eyebrows were then added on top of the stitched area, using two plies of DMC floss #898 in a single horizontal line over three threads. The hands were also stitched in basketweave with DMC floss #948.
For the halo, I first outlined the circumference and worked the radii in tent stitches, then filled in with satin stitches using Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #002V. The same metallic thread was used for the wings in a Nobuko stitch.
Judy was very specific about how I was not to stitch the hair: no French knots or bullions, please! Using Silk & Ivory "Coffee Bean," I mentally divided the hair into four sections, first working the sides in a satin stitch, directing the angle of stitches away from the face. The crown was also worked in satin stitches around the hair ornament. Finally I added the ornament itself in tent stitches, using Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #002V and #014 for the blue zircons, the birthstone for December.
Now for a hint of color! I moved to the dress, outlining the neckband with the gold Kreinik metallic and filling in with either mosaic or Scotch variation stitches using DMC floss #778. With the same color floss, I began basketweaving the bodice of the dress. The staggered bottom horizontal row you see here is deliberate--I'll be needle-blending again!
6 comments:
This is so beautiful! I love everything about this angel. Her hair, face and halo are perfect, with just the right amount of sparkle.
She is lovely!
Beautiful job! Thanks so much for doing this thing - I'm learning. I love her hair.
This is so much fun - watching you and Judy working on your angels. Love the halo! Amazing how much detail you can get in a small space.
Being the master of detail on a small canvas, you are doing a wonderful job here. Beautiful hair and halo and very different angel wings. It's fun watching two people working on the same time. We're all going to enjoy watching both of you.
All this and turbo stitching too! I totally agree with Judy's advice on nixing the bullions and knots here for the hair. Sometime's this technique works; mine usually turns into a full on medussa! lol You've added just the touches of bling too. Beeuuuteefull!
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