Embroidery - stitching portraits

I’ve been using photos for inspiration for embroidery portraits. This one is of my daughter when she was at playgroup. I enlarged the image, used tracing paper to draw the key elements that I want to stitch, transfered the image onto fabric and then played/stitched.

Using a variety of thicknesses of thread leads to shading, re-creating pencil lines and hanging the threads symbolizes the idea that the picture, the subject, lives on.

I am super proud of these trainers!

There are lots of artists doing this kind of work and spent my birthday money on a book by Rosie James  Stitch Draw: Design and Technique for Figurative Stitching

Primary work - Emily Ketteringham work

Bye bye Greeks. Hello work inspired by local artist and waterways. 

Emily Ketteringham is a Bristol based artist, who creates collages, screenprints and prints of scenes in and around Bristol. The class have been studying her styles, doing some sketches and copying some of Emily's drawings/work.

Here are some of their sketches:

Once we'd looked at a few photos of Bristol buildings and skylines they had to work on one picture, that I'd cut in half. We used this image of Windsor Terrace and Bonded warehouses, looking across the Cumberland Basin:

Copyright Emily Ketteringham

We had noticed the way Emily uses simple lines to outlines of buildings and the landscape that disappear off the page, or appear within her detailed images.

I cut the image in half, (we eventually joined them back together), and the children had to discuss what they would see either side of the image and create the rest of the cityscape.

I love what they produced and their collaboration. Lots for them to be proud of.

Happy January.

Alli

:)