I finished stitching all of Luna's face and arms last night down to the back of her hands where her fingers start. However I decide to handle her fingers and long fingernails, stitching them has to wait until after her long gown is stitched. I'll also wait to stitch her amethyst ring.
Although the shadows on the side of her face and neck are stitched as painted, they seem a little dark to me. What do you think?
Jane, pondering pulling out those sections and going a shade lighter
Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow
I agree - they do look a little too dark. You could try using the darker shade on just the jawline and the outer row of the cheek, and then stitching the rest in the lighter one. I know it seems picky to use 3 colors in such a small area, but it works when painting, so why not try the same technique when stitching?
ReplyDeleteDepends on how much lighter the next shade is....the side of her face seems too dark, but the shadow under her chin seems right. I don't have enough cleavage to know what *that* shadow ought to look like.....
ReplyDeleteGood morning, Jane - Personally, I think I would try a shade or two lighter. Did you try the darker shade that's on her right (our left) arm? Can't wait to see how you handle those long fingernails and amethyst ring!
ReplyDeleteAnother thought on the shading - you could possibly use the medium shade on the shadows and back stitch the darker one along the jawline and outer cheek, and maybe even the nose. lol
ReplyDeleteI have to agree that the shading seems too dark to me. The contrast is pretty stark, especially for a lady in the moonlight!
ReplyDeletenancy
I'd use, as suggested above, the same shade you used for the left wrist.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree that the shading is too dark on the neck. Have you thought about "tweeding" the arms, hands and face.
ReplyDeleteI am going with the flow and agree it is too dark....could be you need to do light and then a mix of a single strand or two--needle blending.
ReplyDeleteYour work is so fascinating to watch, and definitely a learning experience. All these canvases look to me like Mortitia for the Adam's Family, a name I loved. When the black triplets where born a year ago (their kittens) I named the girl "Mortitia. I will continue watching in awe...
ReplyDeleteBit of a cheek for me to comment - I knows nuffink about needelpoint! But if this was XST then I'd be VERY tempted to do a single line of stitches along the jaw in the tan and the rest of that shadow in the shade that runs (top and bottom) the length of Luna's right arm...
ReplyDeleteGlenis
I appreciate all the comments and great suggestions, everybody! Glenis, I know nothing about a lot of things but that never stopped me having ideas about them, so comment away.
ReplyDeleteI ended up pulling out the very dark shading and using a slightly darker shade than the dark areas on her arms. I think there isn't enough room to mix shading successrully although I did do a little of that. It just looked odd so I removed it and went with three plies of one color.
Tuesday I'll post the new version and you can tell me if it is an improvement.