Late Bloomers Finished?
I had showed you this background a couple of post ago and was planning on free motion machine stitching a meadow scene.
I started with some background grasses in a couple of rows. If I do this again, I think I would stitch only one row and make the grasses longer.
Then I began couching down some different yarns with machine stitching.
I decided I should go ahead and stitch in the main focal flowers now so I wouldn’t fill up their space with grass. I couched down the green yarn for stems and then stitched heavily over a piece of purple felt for the flowers.
I decided the piece needed some more skinnier lines and some darker values. So I stitched the weedy bits in dark brown. These would have been easier if they were stitched before the larger grasses.
I then added some dark green weedy bits to the left hand side and couched some lighter green yarn down across the foreground. As you can see, I started looking at the piece in a “frame” since that was how it would be presented. What else did I need?
I decided the flowers needed some leaves so I used more of the same green yarn and pulled it apart a bit to get more width for the leaves. Was it finished? There was something bothering me on the right hand side. Do you see the brown grasses forming an ellipse? It seemed to draw my eye too much. So a bit of unstitching was necessary.
Now here it is after a bit of grass removal. Is it finished? I will leave it hanging on my design board for a few days to decide. I think I will add a bit of darkness to a couple of stems just right of center. Probably with a marker or a bit of paint.
What do you think? Is it finished?
12 thoughts on “Late Bloomers Finished?”
I love the overall composition, but the right side, half way down is drawing my eye to the thick dark end of the stalk that i think looks too bulky. May I suggest that it might need tapering to a fine point.The colour combination is very pleasing and the flower heads very realistic,and those seed heads are amazing. I hope you are going to frame and hang this piece,its beautiful.
Thanks Veronica, I did trim a few stalks as you suggested and it looks better in that area. I am planning on framing this piece for sale.
It took me ages and a bit of manipulation to actually see the ellipse that was worrying you. The bits that really drew my eye right at the beginning are the very hard lines between the 3 background colours, and in fact they do still draw my eyes away from the grasses and seed heads. When I concentrate on those, I think that you have got them just right, especially the large purple ones; though maybe the lighter green grasses could perhaps do with some variation.
The initial grasses in the background sort of blend into the distance and give that part of picture depth, which I suspect they might not if they were taller.
It will be interesting to see what others think.
Isn’t it amazing the way we all see things differently, certainly in the case of colours? I know of a man who sees what most people call green as orange, and my husband has difficulty in telling the difference between navy and black.
I’m sure you’ll get lots of suggestions to choose from.
Ann
Thanks Ann, I have to agree that the background is not really ideal. But it is what it is for now. It is interesting to hear other people’s ideas and how they see the composition. And yes, colors are an entirely different story with people seeing colors very differently.
It’s looking lovely Ruth and I do agree with Veronica about the tapering.
The pinky/purple heads are amazing and I like the weedy bits you added – the picture did need the skinny additions.
I wonder what the large brown grass heads would look like with a ‘glint’ – perhaps a small bronze coloured stitch.
Thanks Ladies! I might do a few small hand stitches to the brown grass heads as you suggest. That might be helpful in bringing a bit more light into the composition. I already took Veronica’s suggestion about tapering and that definitely helped.
Its a lovely piece. Back ground weeds that were taller might help blur the harder line but the bottom row is pretty much lost. I like the larger dead grass seed heads. But it seems I am in the minority. Getting rid of the ellipse was an improvement. How long did it take you to figure out that was what was bothering you?
Thanks Ann, I don’t mind the large seed heads. I just changed the size of the line on the right side of the ellipse. I trimmed the yarn so it doesn’t stand out as much. Generally, I take a photo on my phone and I can see right away what doesn’t look right in the photo. It didn’t take long.
I had to play a game of ‘spot the difference’ t find the ellipse but once I found it I can see the difference taking it out makes to the composition. I absolutely love the flower heads Ruth, there is something three dimensional in them. This beauty will sell quickly.
Thanks Helene, because the felt had three layers of color and I used a fourth color for the stitching, the flower heads look three dimensional. It just worked out that way, not really planned.
Ah Ruth! In the words immortalised by Bob Ross, ‘A happy little accident’. 🙂