In the original Hans Christian Andersen version of The Little Mermaid story she turns to sea foam at the end because she does not win the love of the prince. I couldn't come up with a visual that I liked for that so I settled for showing her just under the waves. Because it is a children's story I wanted to make it look like a colouring book or a child's drawing, with simple black lines and areas of colour. She is done in shades of green so that she can hide in the seaweed.
In a previous project I stitched a drawing with black thread and then painted it using Setacolor paints. The problem with those is that they tend to run - like watercolours. So this time I thought I would try acrylic paints. I stitched my drawing and started to paint. Ugh. I was having a hard time getting the paint to flow smoothly. I ended up doing the sky with setacolor because I wanted something quite pale and I figured that the opaque acrylics would cover up any bleeding into the water area..
After the paint dried I restitched the black lines to get the colour darker. Then I added some thread painting with metallic threads. Ugh again because the stiffness of the dried acrylic paint kept breaking the thread. But it was worth it to get a bit of sparkle.
Moral of the story: I need to learn how to work with watercolours so that I can use setacolour paints on fabric. And I will use acrylic paint only where I do not plan to do free motion quilting.
In a previous project I stitched a drawing with black thread and then painted it using Setacolor paints. The problem with those is that they tend to run - like watercolours. So this time I thought I would try acrylic paints. I stitched my drawing and started to paint. Ugh. I was having a hard time getting the paint to flow smoothly. I ended up doing the sky with setacolor because I wanted something quite pale and I figured that the opaque acrylics would cover up any bleeding into the water area..
After the paint dried I restitched the black lines to get the colour darker. Then I added some thread painting with metallic threads. Ugh again because the stiffness of the dried acrylic paint kept breaking the thread. But it was worth it to get a bit of sparkle.
Moral of the story: I need to learn how to work with watercolours so that I can use setacolour paints on fabric. And I will use acrylic paint only where I do not plan to do free motion quilting.
I like to use new techniques in every quilt I try, some work some don't but I love that your new to you technique has worked out really well. It so lovely to see such a modern take on a mermaid.
ReplyDeleteSo interesting how you worked the mermaid into the wave! A lovely piece!
ReplyDeleteThere is something you can add to the acrylic paint so it flows easier and is a little thinner in application. I can't remember the name off the top of my head but I will look it up. Very nice color and I like how the mermaid is caught up in the waves too.
ReplyDeleteLovely design Allison. I like this a lot.
ReplyDeletelovely quilt the mermaid blends into the waves beautifully. I use a white liquid I buy from Riot Art to mix in with the acrylic paints, it's paint medium.
ReplyDelete