Creating Composition in Embroidery.

 

Simple Ways to Use Composition for Beginners

Adding detail (Composition) to your work.

Hi dear friends, it's been a while since we connected.

Over the last few months, we have been discussing both colour and composition in hand embroidery, both in the classroom and in this blog, and it’s time for it all to come together.

Look at a piece of your favorite wall art. What do you see? Think about why you like it. 

Detail and composition are aspects I focus on with my students. However, very few embroidery teachers talk about attention to detail and the creation of detail in hand embroidery, whether in class or online. I have yet to find any embroidery tutorial, video, or blog post discussing this subject in short or at length. So, let’s get started.

We will discuss the elements of detail, why attention to detail is important in any artist's work, across the board from painting on canvas to hand embroidery, and we will discuss some ways to carry through those techniques in hand embroidery.

What is Detail within a work of art?

Here’s a word… Composition. In the artists’ world, this is about different elements coming together to create a whole… A work of art!

To an embroiderer, this word means the same thing and involves making the important parts of a work stand out.

Detail is the isolated elements within a work of art that accomplish the overall composition of the work, be it an oil painting or a piece of hand-embroidered wall art.

To be honest, composition and the time it takes to achieve it can be a never-ending chore when finishing a piece. However, no work would give the artist or the observer the satisfaction and charm that a finished work does without it.

The Two Main Elements of Composition

Focal Points… areas of high detail within the work that draw and hold the eye. The focal point of the image.

Resting Points… areas surrounding the detailed areas that remain without detail.

In the composition of a work, it is important to have both the focal and resting points, and composition can be achieved within a piece of hand embroidery with the combination of colour, technique, and these two elements. Why is this important?

Why is Composition and Detail Important?

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” they say, and so it is with a work of hand embroidery that presents detail in appropriate measure. By focusing on detail, you are inviting others into your world and inspiring them.

The “beholder” feels gifted by the intricate detail, and the artist’s picture comes to life.

When you create a work of hand embroidery, your focus will be on things of beauty around you (nature, etc.). Working from a pattern, you give it your undivided attention, and the detail that you accomplish will nurture an appreciation for the world around us and the world of the artist.

Focusing on details also builds on the artist's patience, fortitude, resolve, and steadfastness. Taking the time to get the correct perspective, the accurate structure, the varied shades, the shifts of light, and the folds of cloth improves our capacity for patience. It develops respect for authenticity, cultivates a love of beauty, and keeps our imagination growing.

How to Create Composition in Your Work

The following tips are some that all artists thrive on and are no less important to an embroidery artist, so applying them to your embroidery is a must.

1. “Less is more”… the thought that not every inch of your work has to be covered with detail.

Remember that detail is used in the composition of a work. Covering every inch with detail will only add to your picture being overworked, boring, and uninteresting. So, complete coverage is a big NO.

Instead, use detailed areas and resting points; soft and hard edges… lines, curves, etc., and cool and warm colours to accomplish your objective.

2. “Quiet the outer noise” of your work of art by concentrating detail around the focal points of the picture and gradually reducing the detail toward the outside of the picture.

The background can incorporate just a plain colour with a very detailed focal point.

3. Elements of detail in your hand embroidery will include shading with colour and stitches, 3D elements, lace and patchwork, and the all-important working from your pattern.

4. Putting all this together takes practice. So, never pass on an opportunity to add detail to even the simplest piece. Choose patterns that give you at least a little shading detail so you can put your technique into practice.

Composition allows you to make your art come alive. Including detail and resting points with shades of colour, and the embroidery stitches in your pattern, will give your embroidery realism and life.

Look at your favourite wall art again. Now, what do you see? Do you see the imagination and story that went into creating that piece? I do!

So, let's choose a pattern, a colour scheme, and a technique and get started. What detail effect would you like to create? The choice is yours.

In the Freestyle Stitch and Creative Stitch embroidery courses held at Tiny Strand Stitchery, our students not only learn about creating detail, they learn how and where to use it, and so with the right guidance, they display beautiful work from fashionable clothing to needle paintings and home decor. So get in touch to find out more; we are just an email away.

Until next time... happy stitching!