Last week I embroidered a over a photo printed on fabric so this week I wanted to try going freehand. One thing I noticed about sewing over a photo was that the colors from the photo added a richness to the finished embroidery, acting as an underpainting. It gave me the idea to try to use fabric paint as a underpainting.
I cut a matching piece of fabric to place behind this piece to act as a stabilizer.
I grabbed some acrylic paint from my stash that was ‘skin-like’. I squeezed some out on a makeshift palette of aluminum foil and mixed.
It is a very good idea to test different colors on a scrap piece of fabric. They look so different and also change when they dry. *Tip - the drying process can be sped up using a hairdryer.
Ready to start stitching.
I used different shades of gray and some black to represent shadows and creases in the shirt. I like to be a little playful and quirky with the colors, like using green in the shadow in his neck.
I used lots of shaded of pinks to create the lips and some gray for the stubble.
The highlight in his neck, oddly, is one of my favorite parts.
I loved adding the little highlights to the glasses. I wish the reflective light was a little more convincing, though.
Thanks for joining me on my experimental journey. Hope you can join me next week when I try some colored fabrics!
Thanks for stopping by!
Pam