04 October 2012

Scratchy silk

What is machine embroidery? I planned to present a blog post about it. And I went on youtube for checking out the technique. Instead, ribbon embroidery caught my eye, and this Russian video looked very artistic.

Вышивка лентами ЦВЕТОЧНАЯ РАПСОДИЯ

Rubans de broderie / RHAPSODY FLORAL


So I paused the video when the composition seemed particularly eye-catching to me and made screen captures.









The screen dumps spent a few minutes in Photoshop for their make over: more contrast, almost desaturated colors, dry brush filter.

Drybrush is a painting technique in which a paint brush that is relatively dry, but still holds paint, is used. The resulting brush strokes have a characteristic scratchy look that lacks the smooth appearance that washes or blended paint commonly have. (Source: wikipedia)


Stone ground, flour sacks and domestic dove 
by Michael Dumas with dry brush, watercolor and gouache

The conditions in the interior of the mill influenced my choice of mediums when I set out to do this painting. I chose dry brush for its thin, textural, woven qualities, and gouache (which contains chalk) as being sympathetic to the dry dusty interior atmosphere. The gouache also seemed just right to achieve the bright reflective quality of the areas touched by sunlight. (Michael Dumas, realistic interpretator of nature)