Child's Face

Kids are the hardest portraits to do. Why? Because you need to use such a light hand. They're very easy to overdo! They don't have much in the way of lines, shadows, etc.

Completed Face

This is the nearly finished art quilt. I've pieced it together with hand dyed fabric (and some commercial fabric). Now I need to add the backing and top stitch.

Making Faces

To do portraits, I start out very light. You can always go darker, but you can't go lighter; so my rule of thumb is to go layer by layer until it's right.

Next Stage of Bird

Here's the quilt top with the bird from the previous post. I drew details with a colored pencil and finished it with a layer of acrylic varnish to protect the drawing. Next, I pieced it with other sections of similar surface design technique plus some commercial fabric. I used machine decorative stitching and hand stitching with French knots and seed beads.

Freezer Paper Demo

First, I made a copy of a bird photograph and enlarged it to 150% of normal. (Easier to work with.) I then cut it out with small craft scissors, then traced around it onto freezer paper. Then, I ironed it onto fabric (shiny side down). At this point I painted over the image with acrylics (don't thin them down too much - the paint will bleed under the mask). Next, I thinned out the colors with water when further away from the bird to soften the effect. Two examples follow.

First Bird

This bird mask was painted over on unbleached muslin. This image is strongly contrasted with the paint around it, and needs enhancement with more details; first overpainting in a soft tone, and drawing with a gel pen, colored pencil or sharpie.

This is an example of a freezer paper mask over pre-dyed, (or commercial) fabric. I used stamps to embellish around the bird. It's not necessary to go any further and draw details on the bird if that's not your strong point.

Altar Series

These are an offshoot of my interest in meditation - plus the fact that I get a satisfying feeling from the house shape. "Home" is such a deep instinctive need, don't you think?
These are printed with cut funky foam, freezer paper stencils, etc. and I added cutout drawings on watercolor paper.

Foam Printing

This is quick and easy with instant gratification. Take a pen and draw on a foam plate, then paint over it with acrylics. Quickly print on unbleached muslin.
This part of my "Joy of Creativity" surface design demo.