Jane's Buddha Cat Ideas:
Canvases with large areas of black are always tricky for me. Not only it is hard to see black threads on black canvases, any fancy stitch you do will often not show up very well so all that work is wasted. It is tempting to just tent stitch the black background behind the Buddha but I'm going another route--I'm going to recommend working a gold border in satin stitches over padding around the outside edge of the design, then work a light coverage stitch using a thinner gold thread right on top of the black. After all, there is no rule saying you have to use the same color on top of a painted area of canvas! I would use something along the line of Brenda Hart's Blackwork Vertical Hexagons (without the central motifs) from p. 87 of her Favorite Stitches Two. Stitch it all over the black area including the gold Chinese characters, then go back with more of your gold threads and using packed stem stitch, cover the Chinese characters right over the background blackwork stitch.
The final background area that will use gold threads is the golden halo around the Cat Buddha's head. I think I would couch this in concentric circles, using a brighter gold than the gold in the Chinese characters, the blackwork background or the border. Obviously you will need a variety of sizes of gold threads for these areas, working from a heavier cord like Kreinik's #16 or #32 braid for the border that is covered with something like Treasure Braid ribbon, to a thin metallic like Accentuate or blending filament or even Petite Treasure Braid for the blackwork pattern over the black area to a more substantial #4 or #8 braid for the Chinese characters. You can couch the padding heavier braid with the very thin blackwork thread on the halo or you can go so far as to totally bead the halo. I think I would use a shinier gold like Coronet Braid for the halo and couch it myself.
The final background area that will use gold threads is the golden halo around the Cat Buddha's head. I think I would couch this in concentric circles, using a brighter gold than the gold in the Chinese characters, the blackwork background or the border. Obviously you will need a variety of sizes of gold threads for these areas, working from a heavier cord like Kreinik's #16 or #32 braid for the border that is covered with something like Treasure Braid ribbon, to a thin metallic like Accentuate or blending filament or even Petite Treasure Braid for the blackwork pattern over the black area to a more substantial #4 or #8 braid for the Chinese characters. You can couch the padding heavier braid with the very thin blackwork thread on the halo or you can go so far as to totally bead the halo. I think I would use a shinier gold like Coronet Braid for the halo and couch it myself.
Once the gold areas of the background and border are stitched, I would work on the stylized lotus petal cushion the Buddha meditates on. For the blue centers of the lotus petals, use Beetle Stitch (page 18 of Brenda Hart's Favorite Stitches One). You'll have to compensate for the end petals. Tent stitch the green shading below the blue petals, then use long slanting and upright stitches for the petal outlines. Top off that stitching with couched gold outlines. The blue cushion itself that you can barely see should be tent stitched in a thread that is soft and not shiny (Petite Very Velvet? A wool-silk blend like Impressions?), but I'd do the petals themselves in a shiny thread.
Ignore the gold bracelets on the cat's feet and the gold belt buckle until the end. I'd cover those areas with tiny (size 14) gold beads but that needs to wait until the cat and the pink sari are stitched.
For the cat's paws and chest and face, use a soft wooly thread and use a combination of tent and brick stitches. The tent is for tiny areas like the inner ears, the nose and mouth lines, while the brick stitch (over two threads) is for the rest. The eyes should be done in silks and tent stitched, with either a clear or white bead attached as the pupil highlight. If you think a bead too prominent, use a white or silver metallic and do a cross stitch for the highlight in both eyes.
For the cat's paws and chest and face, use a soft wooly thread and use a combination of tent and brick stitches. The tent is for tiny areas like the inner ears, the nose and mouth lines, while the brick stitch (over two threads) is for the rest. The eyes should be done in silks and tent stitched, with either a clear or white bead attached as the pupil highlight. If you think a bead too prominent, use a white or silver metallic and do a cross stitch for the highlight in both eyes.
The pink robe should be stitched all in tent with something like Vineyard Silk or Planet Earth's silk strand thread except for the sleeve and lapels which can be done in long packed stem stitches. Layer more packed stem stitch on top to raise this area slightly.
Once you finish the stitching, attach the beads for the belt buckle and bracelets, then scatter a few sparkling hex gold beads around the canvas at random, on top of the design. (If you beaded the halo, you might want to omit this step.) Frame or make into a flat finish stand up as a meditation aid for a dear friend who does yogi or put this piece somewhere you see it each morning to remember to breath deeply and calmly in times of stress.
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8 comments:
Your website is always very nice. Check out this link. I believe Brenda Stofft paints these as exclusives.
http://www.redroosterstitchery.com/barney1.htm
Also, have you seen this site?
http://www.laborsofloveneedlepoint.com/index.html
Yes, Shelley, I have. Was there something there you wanted me to see?
Thanks, Anon. I knew Brenda Stofft reproduced the Barney portraits in NP canvas but there are more available now than I remembered. They are an interesting mix of modern and primitive art to me. I like In the Garden especially. These would be a special challenge to stitch, wouldn't they?
I just wanted to post a couple of sites because I have found a lot of new, very nice NP because of your blog. Not that I needed to buy more. But your projects are varied and you seem to be such an acomplished stitcher so it is always a treat to look in. Thank you for that.
Thanks for explaining, Shelley. I thought you were drawing my attention to another Buddha canvas and I was puzzled as I didn't find one. Thank you for the nice compliment, by the way. I am not a great stitcher, but I am adventurous and there are always new things to try and see. I'm glad you come visit.
Jane, Are you going to stitch this one? I would go great with your bunny. I always look forward to your pick for canvas of the day. You do our shopping for us. Thank you.
I might, Peggy. I do like this canvas, but mostly the canvas of the month is for Bonnie and myself to practice deciding on stitchers for a canvas. It stretches my brain.
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