This morning's math lesson is how French Knots=Beads. Or vice versa. The geisha in the original painting has nine little buttons (or possibly beaded decoration) along the edge of her kimono above her obi and at the hem of her over tunic. In the original canvas these are red but I already knew I wanted to change the color to something else. My Western sensibilities wanted repeats of the main colors. So I pulled out my blue and gold beads and put a few of each shade on the canvas. The best match (the same blue beads I used for the sleeves) were turned into a much lighter blue by the tan and gold background of the kimono. Gold beads just disappeared as there is too much gold on the kimono already and the beads visually became more of the gold pattern. They did not stand out.
You want Stand Out? I'll give you STAND OUT!
Sorry, got carried away a bit there. I have quite a few pink and green beads and those are the accent colors on this canvas, so I tried to match the pink and green ribbon colors and came up with size 11/0 pink beads by Gick in rose pink #4-136. I don't know if you can see them well in the picture but in person they give a small shot of color to the decorative trim on the kimono over coat. My green beads were not such a good color match to the ribbons but I'm happy with the accent the beads give.
I was a bit afraid that I would not have the right beads in my stash, so I also pulled out metallic threads in the right shades of pink and green. If you need to do something that looks like buttons on a canvas, French knots and beads will give the same effect. If you can't get the shade of metallic you want for French knots, substitute beads in the right color. And vice versa.
I love metallic "buttons" on NP canvases. You can obtain many sizes and colors in metallic threads to give you just the right sized button in a French knot.
If you hate making French knots, substitute beads. If you have access to a good bead shop, or even a crafts emporium that sells a lot of items for making jewelry, you can pick up a nice selection of beads. Many NP shops also carry beads. I particularly like the hexagon-shaped beads from Sundance and the Magnifica line of beads from Mill Hill but you can substitute beads, or a mix of beads and French knots, on any canvas where you need a button.
By the way, ordinarily I would put the beads on after the squiggles that make up the trim, but I wanted the beads in place so I can properly position the squiggles that help make up the trim. Therefore, I added the beads now.
Sorry this is late showing up this morning, but the Internet connection was down briefly. We have a fabulous wireless provider that gives us a solid and reasonably fast connection, but even they have problems occasionally. At least it wasn't an owl sitting on the dish that caused a problem this time!
Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow
8 comments:
Thanks for the beading reminders!! I don't mind doing french knots either, but when I can grab a bead, I do!
ahhhh.. now i know what those "black lines" were i saw around the tunic hem and the collar - when i asked before i thought it was part of the tunic design and now that you mention squiggles, i see that is what they are - you have not stitched them and they show up as little black curvy lines on the photos - like the frog enclosures on good winter coats. mystery solved. i love your blog - you are by far the most informative blog and the photos are so very helpful. you put a lot of work into this and i thank you.
My pleasure, Monica. Yes, the squiggles are small decorative florishes that I haven't stitched yet. They show up through the light coverage stitches of the kimono tunic but eventually will be covered when I figure out with what.
Pat, I like using beads instead of French knots as the size is more consistent but sometimes you need a mix of sizes. There certainly are more threads than bead colors available to me, so I use both.
I do love beads, though!
I love your version of the Rabbit Geisha, and the background is stunning! Thank you for all the info on beads and beading.
I am glad you like the Rabbit Geisha, Madonna. I like how she is turning out, too. Hopefully the bead/French knot information will help you on one of your lovely projects somehow.
I learned how to do a French Knot many years ago, when I did embroidery. I once did an entire piece in all French Knots, that is the road to madness, trust me
Beads can be pretty finicky, too. I don't know if I would ever do a canvas all in French knots but I've seen a magnificent SharonG perfume bottle done all in beads and it was magnificent! So someday I am going to stitch a little canvas all in beads, nothing else.
I'll reserve a place next to you in the loony bin, ok?
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