SEEING RED

I have a large plastic storage box full of yarns in all shades from orange through red and burgundy as well as some variegated multi-coloured ones.

 

I started to think about patterns I could weave using these colours and thought of my granddaughter Kirsty and her amazing red hair.

 

I've drawn and painted her many times since she was born 23 years ago so it wasn't hard to find some suitable examples to use as inspiration.

 

This is the latest drawing which I used for her embroidered portrait for my centenary quilt wall hanging.

 

I worked out the design using a selection of the yarns and you can see the test sample at the top of this picture then I started to weave the two pieces I needed to make a bag.

 

I made a page in my weaving notebook with the design of the bag, a swatch of the chosen colours and the fake suede I planned to use for the base, sides and shoulder strap of the bag.

 

I used the different yarns randomly, mixing thick with thin, shiny with bobbly and adding a tiny bit of bright orange to make everything pop.

 

When the weaving was finished, I had two pieces, one measuring 16 x 22 cms and the other 35 x 22, both of which I reinforced with iron-on interfacing and then facing out with shiny red satin.  I kept the fringe free on the top end of the larger piece so that it could be the edge of the front.  I also added a pocket on the inside just the right size for a mobile phone.  I found a large bead to use for the fastening on a necklace bought in in Egypt many years ago and hardly ever worn.

 

I cut the suede into a long piece 8 x 150 cms which I joined with a flat seam then stitched to each piece of the bag so that the larger piece of weaving formed the flap.  I turned in the sides so make the strap narrower over the shoulder. 

 The bag will be a birthday gift for Kirsty in May so please don't tell her if you know her!

 

 

ANOTHER PORTRAIT

 

I've had a lovely time this week drawing my middle granddaughter, Stephanie.  I was inspired by a photo taken by Rose Jones, a friend of Justine's which depicted Steph wearing one of her beautiful jewellery creations.  This is a photo of the finished piece which is too big to go under the scanner, hence the less than perfect quality.

 

I always start with the eyes as if they go completely wrong I can start again without wasting too much work.  This is actually the second attempt as the first one wasn't quite what I wanted, you can see that one at the end of the post.  I just turned the paper over and re-traced the outline before starting again.

 

The main reason for a second attempt was that I couldn't draw the beaded necklace successfully so I decided to draw some ivy instead and came up with a name for the picture as well: Stephanivy.

 

The first drawing had ended up with rather heavy hair so this time I tried to keep it lighter despite the fact that Steph's hair is very dark brown.  Even this has gone through a couple of erasures!

 

To make the background look misty and soft I rubbed on some pastel greens with a duster wrapped around my finger tip.

 

Here is Rose's photo and I think I've almost got her likeness but there's always a little something that isn't quite perfect in the drawing. I don't want to fiddle any more or I will ruin a portrait that looks lovely now hanging in the hall mounted on a pale flesh pink background with a plain black frame.

 

In this first attempt I realised that the eyes were on different levels so when I re-traced the drawing I moved the left eye down a fraction and used a straight edge to line them up with the photo I laid alongside.  I had also gone a bit crazy with the background, overdoing the detail which I was so fed up with I didn't even scan it!  It's a lesson learned, make sure the drawing is anatomically correct before getting stuck in and step back for a day to reflect before finishing the background.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing how I made this portrait, I'd love to hear what you think in the comments.  I'll be back soon with something different so watch this space!

A NEW PORTRAIT

 

Well my mojo has certainly come back, I can't stop drawing this week!  My youngest granddaughter, Sarah, posted a selfie on Facebook last week and I couldn't wait to turn it into a portrait.

 

Here is the original picture showing off her new furry ears and purple hair.  I cropped the photo to the largest possible to fit on A4 so that I could trace it onto some drawing paper.  I printed it on to thin computer paper and then used wax free carbon paper and an embossing tool to transfer a simple outline so that I could be sure to get a good likeness.

 

I got out my best drawing pencils, the Pablos and a few Polychromos, and selected a limited range of colours to make the drawing.  Here is the finished portrait which I felt needed a bit of a background to make her pop.

 

So I printed the image off side by side on a piece of cartridge paper and set to with my mauve and pink pastels.  I use them with a piece of duster wrapped around my finger to pick up the pigment from the stick and rub gently on to the paper.  Unfortunately I discovered that my printer had made several greasy lines on the paper which only showed up when I started using the pastel.

 

I decided to ignore the marks and carried on with another selection of warm earth shades as the frame I wanted to put the picture in was a light ochre tinted wood.  I really like both versions but settled on a combination of both colour ranges in the end and as you can see in the picture at the top she really does look beautiful!

I have already started on the next one of Stephanie, my middle granddaughter who was photographed wearing one of Justine's fabulous bead creations so watch this space!

HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY KIRSTY

 

Today, May the 3rd, is my eldest granddaughter's 21st birthday and I have decided to share with you some of the portraits I've made of her over the years.  This is the latest from a recent photo taken at her university classics ball.

 

I will always remember the day she was born, the tension as we waited for the news and Justine worked hard to give birth to a 10 pound baby! 

This picture is from a cute photo when she was 6 and had made herself a grass necklace.

 

 Aged 11 and she's already wearing glasses like the rest of the family.  She is very good at art and I've got a file of her drawings done when she and her sister Stephanie came to stay with us.

 

Kirsty loves music and she became a good flute player by the time she was 12.

 

Aged 13 and now at a private grammar school where she was moved to prevent the bullying she had been receiving at the state school because of her red hair.

At 14 she's very confident now and proud of the wonderful auburn hair she inherited from her father's side of the family.

At 16 she's doing very well at school and passes all her exams with flying colours.

 

At 19 here, Kirsty is studying French, Latin and Greek at Exeter university, I think she's inherited the language skills from my mother who lived and worked in Sweden and Poland and picked up the languages very easily.

It's been nice to travel down memory lane with my first granddaughter, I hope you've enjoyed seeing my portraits too!

Happy birthday Kirsty! xxx