Ink Embroidery

This mood board shows different artists that work with ink, to add colour to my embroidery illustration I could experiment adding watercolour and ink to give my work colour. Instead of the Calligram style dark outlines I have been experimenting with I could just trace sections of my photos and with that use masking fluid to block the sections where I don't want ink or watercolour to go into, once I do that I could stitch into the coloured areas using same thread colour, beadings and sequences. 

Experiment with stitching

I started my embroidery experiment by highlighting lines on my photo in black fine liner to have a template and clear view where I can start to stitch. I did the stitching onto card, to create thicker lines I stitched in the same section numerous times and also that way the stitching stands out.

Once I was used to stitching onto the card I heat pressed the Calligram edit photo I did on Illustrator onto fabric. I tried using a sewing machine this time but found that it was hard to control and that the one line stitching did not show enough detail, so I continued by hand. I found that this Calligram edit method creates to many detractions and that the stitching detail is not clearly visible, in order for the embroidery to be clear I think I need to remove the colour and just stitch the outline.

The way I have been experimenting with the Calligram style outlines creates to many thick outlines which takes longer to stitch through. In order to create more detail with the stitching and embroidery I will trace sections of the photos I select, I will experiment with ink and using less lines and see the amount of time it takes to complete a full A3 sheet.  The less lines my image has the more embroidery detail I can add, I will also add beading and sequences. 

Laura McKellar analysis

Embroidery

Laura McKellar is a graphic designer and illustrator based in Melbourne, Australia. McKellar mainly likes working with brown paper, flowers and watery inks. She combines retro photos with detailed stitching around certain parts of the photo, which is heat pressed onto brown fabric which look vintage and add more of a retro theme to the embroidery pieces. 

McKellar uses a combination of retro/found images, collages and mixed media to create and incorporate into her work, she collects second hand picture books and dress pattern books to find influences/ ideas to incorporate into her work. She uses "desaturated colours, detailed illustration and dreamy landscapes," the vintage classic photographs in pattern/ picture books which she uses in her embroidery work below. 

LM uses soft shades of colours as her background that don't clash with her main photo at the centre, also the colours she uses on the embroidery around the eyes complement the background colour. These embroidery examples I chose drew my attention to the vintage and detail of the work, also the process that the work was made in. The photo is vintage black and white photo which was heat pressed onto fabric that looks like it has an 'old paper' type of texture, which adds more detail to the work. 

The text no the work looks hand made using ink or fine liner but edited digitally before heat pressing onto the fabric from what I can see. The actual embroidery looks like a mask, the image looks edited and placed on top of the photo digitally before heat pressing onto the fabric. She adds stitching around the outlines which high lights the image around the eyes, she uses gold threading which makes the mask around the eyes stand out. 

Looking Forward

Flying Freedom

I personally find the process McKellar made her embroidery work and the detail she adds to it combining Textiles with her Graphics work interesting and relatable to my working mind. Her work inspired me to try to make this the theme/technique I follow to make my final outcome, combining Textiles and Graphics by editing photographs digitally and then heat pressing the finished image onto fabric to start embroidery. But instead of the vintage look that her work represents/ has my work will have more of a Pop Art theme like Andy Warhols work, by adding bright primary colours onto my photos with dark outlines to stitch into. 

Marilyn Diptych 1962

Caligram Style Illustration Embroidery

Started off tracing a photo of a girl wearing a turban with big and unique features such as her lips, neck and face. This image is a little example of the type of photos I will be taking to use for my final outcome, I will only be doing head shots because trying to do embroidery and stitching onto a whole body would not be finished in 8 hours. Doing only head shots I will have more time to add detail and make the embroidery stand out, this technique I will be using relates back to the theme Covert& Obscured because of the effect Needle Art adds to illustration, when looking at the image you would have to take a second look to view the detail the stitching/ embroidery has and the detail that has been put in. I may use heat transfer and heat press onto fabric first then add the stitching's.

I traced a photo onto tracing paper using black fine liner trying to highlight the main features of the face and creases on the clothing etc. using lines. Once I had finished tracing, I scanned the tracing paper to start editing and to begin adding color on Illustrator. To do so I selected the Live Trace and Live Paint Bucket tools to give the animated/caligram effects. Because I did not join my lines together in some sections of the drawing I came across the problem where when I tried to use the paint bucket tool to fill in color it would go into the whole background or other sections. 

 I had to go back to the drawing on the tracing paper and join my lines together, to fill in individual sections.

This is the completed image where I will add embroidery/ stitching, I will try using sewing machine but I think that hand stitch will be easier to each into and around curved lines for example. I this is the theme or idea I use in my final outcome I will maybe do more than one but using different embroidery and color pallet.