February Embroidery Club - Embroidery to Art Part II

It seems like the snow has finally ended.  I hope everyone in the Washington DC area came through it all with no damage.  I'd like to thank all those brave folks who came to Club last Saturday and Monday morning.  We had another bout of snowfall and had to cancel Monday evening's session.

Don't be too upset about missing the meeting because you can catch up on the lesson in this blog.  First of all, lets's start with everyone's favorite part--Show & Tell.  Pay particular attention to Mary C's cape made on her brand new Babylock serger.  It is breathtaking!  You can send any photos of your projects for the Show and Tell that you missed to me at Geri@soeasyquilts.com and I will add them to the slide show.  Also send me an email telling us all how you spent your time during Snowmageddon 2010.  Did you sew, quilt, embroider, read a book, clean house (yulk!), etc.? We took a poll at the meeting and the results will be in the next newsletter next week.

Now for this month's lesson.  We will continue our discussion on creating a landscape design. With this challenge project, you will use all of the skills you have learned (embroidery, sewing, felting, fabric painting, beading, using Angelina fibers, etc.) to create your landscape.  

It’s fun to create a landscape. Landscapes can be used for quilts, wall hangings, tote bags, garments, pillows…all kinds of stuff.  

This photo is a picture of my husband's cousin's farm in the hills of Tennessee. It is beautiful!

You can get inspiration from all kinds of places like photo's, clip art, coloring books, and even in your mind's eye.


The trick of a landscape is to create a 3-dimensional effect on a 2-dimensional surface. This is done through the use of line and color.
The eyes are fooled by what we see. One part may appear to be closer than other parts. Look at the illustration below.  Lines are created to produce an effect of depth or motion.

1- This shows a normal patchwork block
2- Lines distort these patchwork blocks to make us think the block is lying down.
3-The shortened lines and the little triangle make us think the block is folded.
4- Curving the lines makes us think the block is curled.
Manipulating the lines like this is called Linear Perspective. These rules were devised by painters and art schools. As sewers, we have an added challenge as painters don’t have to take seam lines into account.

Now look at the illustration above.  In #1, the linear perspective says that distant objects appear smaller. In #2 look at the train track.  If the eye sees relatively parallel lines, they must be moving away from us.  This is the same for the patchwork block in #3. It appears to be moving away from us.  This concept is called foreshortening.

We expect the space between the parallel lines to reduce as they travel away from us and finally disappear. They usually converge on the horizon. This is called the vanishing point. These vanishing lines help to determine the comparative size of distant objects and the distance to the horizon.

Looking at his photo at viewer’s eye level is called the point of sight. In this drawing, the line represents the horizon (the eye level). The horizon is not a fixed line, but is determined by the limit of the viewer’s vision. The horizon is most clearly seen when you look out into the ocean and nothing breaks this horizon line separating the sea from the sky. If the horizon is unbroken, it gives the viewer the impression of great space and emptiness.

Look at this photo from the perspective of the little guy holding the flag.  The higher your eye level, the higher the horizon would appear.  More ground, less sky.

When your eye level is low, as in #1, the opposite happens.
If lying on your stomach, you would see more sky than ground.
If the sky occupies more space on the landscape, as in #2, there is greater emphasis on the sky.
Now look at #3.  If the horizon is in the middle, equal emphasis is placed on land and sky.

The placement of objects in a landscape can also create an impression of debth.  The background in #1 seems larger by placing this tree in the foreground.
In #2, the foreground seems larger by placing this smaller tree near the horizon. Also the size of the trees create an illusion of distance.
In these two photos, can we tell if one tree is smaller or just far away? We can’t tell from the information we have on hand.

Look at the effect that eye level has upon the focus object with its relationship to the horizon.  The object appear to lie above the horizon in #1, below in #2 and way below the horizon according to the height of the eye level in #3.

Now, lets look at defining distance and motion.  Look at the illustration below.
If the nearest in a series of similar sized objects is positioned lower than the horizon, the remainder of the series will also be lower…and vice versa.


Which distance is greater 1 or 2? Which is more pleasing to the eye? What could be added to these landscapes?

It is possible to create a landscape with no horizon at all. A landscape could be only sky (1) or land (2). This is called birds eye perspective.

The affect of depth can be created by overlapping one object over another. If we see this in a landscape, we figure that one must be at a different distance from us.
1. The object that is partially covered is further away and therefore behind the one in full outline.
2. Several layers of overlapping hills can create an illusion of great distance even though the size of each hill is exactly the same.

Placing large objects in the foreground (like these leaves) creates a feeling of involvement by the viewer (eye level is right in front of the leaves). The eye will estimate the distance by comparing the two, This makes for a dramatic landscape.


Now how to begin creating a landscape.  Art schools always teach you to start with the horizon and the background.  I do things opposite.  I decide on the focus piece of the landscape--usually the embroideries.  I print out full sized images of all the embroidery designs I want to use.  Be sure to write down where you filed the designs on the paper. 
Next, put up a piece of paper the size of the finished size of the landscape.  Place the focus design on background where you want it to be.  Then place all the embroideries you want to use in the landscape. 
Then sketch all the missing elements of your landscape like the horizon, trees, land, hills, water, etc.  If you are planning on resizing an embroidery design, mark the desired dimentions on the printed embroidery.  If you are planning on editing an embroidery to take out parts of the design, also make notes on your printed paper.
Take a look at a couple of the concept drawings that Embroidery Club members came up with last weekend.

Don't be surprized if the finished product looks very different from your original concept.  Artwork has a life of its own.  Just follow your intuition and it will always lead you in the right direction.
So I want you to start looking at the embroidery designs that you own.  Print out a full sized template of any designs you might like to use in its entirely or in part.  Make a few sketches of landscapes.  Next month, we will learn how to take apart an embroidery design using Designer's Gallery Colorworks, CustomWorks or MasterWorks.  See you next month. 

References: 
Fabric Landscapes by Machine by Linda Crone, 2000, Krause Publishing
Peaceful Scenes by Angela Madden, 1997 MCQ Publications