Grumpy Old Man

And here he is at last! My finished, mounted blackwork. The RSN didn't think much of him, but I have become quite attached to his battle-weary face. The scar on his lip adds character I think (OK, so I'm weird!)

 

Sorry! I have been away - again.

Well, at least I went to the RSN at Hampton Court this time! An excellent few days with Jenny Adin Christie. I can highly recommend it. Mind you, it was awfully hot, but I shouldn't complain about being warm.

I have been working on my man since I arrived home and, as you can see, the hair is slowly growing. Tracy and I made the decision about the background when I was in Durham a couple of weeks ago - I am going to stitch the background (the paper is foxed in the original), but only very lightly and sketchily.

And now the other eye!

OK. Sorry about the long absence, but we have been away again. This time it was up the East coast of Scotland and then a little way along the North coast. We must have done something right - the weather was dry! 

Following that I had two days in Durham with Tracy trying to catch up and sort out in my head the way forward. On due consideration, the other eye (his right eye) needed a bit of a sort out.

I have put before and after shots below, see what you think.

Before

After

Home at last.

Yes, I have been away again - and the embroidery has suffered I am afraid. I have been stitching. I am working on a cot size whole cloth quilt for a friend's daughter's baby, so am definitely working to a deadline.

Anyway, below is a picture of my man as he was yesterday. It's interesting, the photographs give a different perspective on the piece. I took one look at the picture and took the eye out again. I also need to calm down the highlights I think.

I have started the hair and am using small diamond stitch. I am aligning the "tails" of the stitch with the direction of the curls, as far as possible. Then I am using a very free stem stitch to highlight the curls. What do you think?

"The ayes have it"

One of the benefits of having a 16 year old in the house revising for her GCSEs is that every time that I insist that she sits quietly in the kitchen working for an hour, I also can sit quietly working for an hour! So, progress is being made on both fronts. Mind you, I'm glad that it isn't me doing the GCSEs. I hated it all those years ago (about 50) and certainly wouldn't enjoy it now.

In contrast, I am enjoying my blackwork. Feeling my way around the creases of the eyes ...............

Post-holiday guilt.

We have been away for a few weeks (Mexico - and yes, it was amazing!) so it has taken time to get back into the swing of blackwork. So, I spent two days with Tracy last week. It really doesn't look like a big result for two days of solid stitching. I am also falling hideously far behind schedule. This really is all about attention to detail though. It can't be rushed. Funnily enough it is quite soothing to concentrate hard on a small area.

Anyway - his nose is almost in place, then I think that I need to do his right ear. I am having qualms about the density of the area of his sideburns.

Slowly, carefully.

Anyway ........ slowly I am making progress. It may not seem like a lot, but it's not like doing straightforward blackwork infill of shapes. Trying to get the shading right takes time. This is about pleasure - lets take our pleasures slowly!

It is time to start the hair and to think about the background. In the sketch the background paper is lightly foxed.

Sweet lips!

Sweet they are not! I think that this is an image of an old soldier. He has his front top teeth missing - you can see the scar on his lip.

I also have a theory that Leonardo da Vinci was a time traveller called Leonard Vincent (The blackwork is of a Leonardo sketch by the way). At least this would account for all his futuristic designs.

Anyway, back to blackwork: the jawline was interesting to do, but it has worked out I think. I have used open zig zag stitch  for the lips, reduced to half scale  - otherwise it would have been too sketchy. The lips aren't quite finished yet. This week's task is to get the whole mouth area finished.