Embroider - The Process

I had the idea for this painting over coffee last Friday morning, and then spent one day sketching, painting and finishing the piece. The idea was simple – to practice my compositional skills with a painting done in monochrome, in much the style of interior book illustrations or the like.

We work with textiles a lot in our house, and so it was the first theme I thought of. Between the two of us, we sew, embroider, weave, spin, knit, crochet, do surface design and dressmaking, and dye. Lately, I've been circling back to handcrafts in my drawing, too.

I worked with pencil and gouache, alternating between the two as I went. I used the gouache in thin washes to allow the pencil marks to show up beneath. I don't have pictures of the final steps as I got too carried away to remember to take them!

When finished, I scanned it and finished it by cleaning up the contrast, and emphasising a few areas around the face and figure.