New Yarn Painting ~ Pug in the Park

Happy Monday everyone!

I am so excited to show you my new yarn painting that I just finished!

Archie was sweet enough to be my model for this image.

I love painting with yarn!

Each piece of fiber builds on to the next to create a rich, textured painting that anyone can create!

You do not need to know how to draw, knit or crochet to make this fiber work painting come to life.

All you need is some glue, scissors, yarn and your favorite photo.

I have written a fun tutorial on creating a yarn painting for you to enjoy.

I snapped some photos for you to see this new painting spring to life.

I did the painting over several days to keep the whole process FUN and creative.

You can stop and start at any time in the process and pick up right where you left off feeling happy and refreshed.

Here is Archie getting filled in with each strand of yarn.

Always starting at the top of my image, I have filled in his head and blocked in some imortant lines in the body that I do not want to miss later.

I use worsted weight acrylic through most of it but do have some thinner weight wool fibers running it through it too.

Yarn painting is an excellent way to use up tiny balls of yarn that you have left over from other projects left in your stash.

Now Archie is all filled in and I have cut small white circles of craft felt to use as highlights in his eyes.

Here are close up shots of the shading I followed right from my photograph.

I decided to "transport" Archie from his rug in the original photo to a lush park by splitting the background with a blue sky and some green grass.

Ta Da!

Our new yarn painting is complete!

I had so much FUN creating it!

I have made signed prints and note cards available for you to enjoy in our Etsy Shop.

Please contact me anytime with any questions if you decide to make a yarn painting too.

Archie & I would also love to see and share what you create!

xoxoxo

Melissa & Archie

Yarn Painting Tutorial ~ Heavenly Pug

Happy Monday everyone!

I just finished another yarn painting!

I cannot tell you how fun and easy this is to do!

You do not need to know how to draw, knit or crochet to make these!

All you need is your ...

• favorite photo printed on inkjet or similar weight paper,



• a wood board,



• some glue,



• yarn scraps,



• sharp scissors and



• a bone folder , butter knife, pointy nail file or envelope opener to help place & lightly push down the cut yarn into the glue.

(Please follow the links above to see the glue and tools I use, but any will do.)

I made this one from a photograph of Emmitt in his Sweater Vest!

I feel like Emmitt came down from heaven and was sitting next to me during this whole project.

It made me so happy!

I think this yarn painting came out extra special!

I am truly thrilled with it! :)

I took lots of photographs to show you how I made it...

Here is my photo of Emmitt printed on inkjet paper to fit a 8 x 10 piece of wood.

I suggest making your photo big enough that the shapes are large enough to fill with your yarn scraps.

I use mostly worsted weight acrylic yarn to fill in my paintings, but do have some thinner DK or sport weight pieces in my yarn stash that I use for outlining or filling in finer shapes.

There are no rules about what you can use. If you love embroidery thread and like to work in small details that would make a beautiful painting too!

Use the materials that you love to work with. It will make your project truly yours!

* Important Note: Before you start working on the painting, make sure you do not have any loose edges or air bubbles in your photograph's bond to your wood.
Once we get started, there is no good way to reglue the photo and you do not want it lifting from your board. :)

Here we go!

I usually start at the top and work my way to the bottom of the design.

I cut about 16" piece of yarn from the ball and work with it until it is too short to use.

I put a light bead of glue (choose one that will dry clear) where I want to place my yarn.

Then I put the yarn on the glue and snip the end of the piece of yarn with sharp scissors to the correct length to fit the glue line.

Finally, I lightly press the yarn into the glue with my flat pointy tool of choice (like the bone folder or envelope opener) and that is it!

Just keep doing that, pressing each row lightly into the one above to make a nice tight painting.

Have fun with yarn, textures, outlining, swirling yarn, horizontal filling in, vertical filling in.

The sky is the limit!

As you can see...

I added a tongue for Emmitt.

I also looked for lines I wanted to make sure I outlined with darker yarn so I glued them in on his legs and tail to give them time to dry.

I also decided to change his sweater from green to orange :)

The toes and feet are outlined and now I will fill them in with lighter and darker shades of fawn yarn to give it a little depth.

I just follow the shapes in the photo to figure out when I want to change yarn colors.

There is no right or wrong.

It is just fun!

See the swirled & curved yarn to make the bobbles and add interest to the shape of his leg?


Emmitt cast a nice shadow on the deck that I will fill in with a medium blue to be just a little darker than the light blue background I plan to lay down.

See how I just let the photo tell me what to do.

It is very fun and relaxing to create yarn paintings.

You can stop and start at any time. It is there for you anytime you feel like working on it.

One piece of yarn at a time, your painting will emerge.

Emmitt is now all filled in!

Now it is time for the background.

Again I start from the top and work my way to the bottom.

I like to use horizontal and vertical lines to add interest and fill in the curves tightly.



The shadow is next!

See how I used some swirly yarn placement for fun in the shadow?

Here is a close up to see it more clearly.

Ta Da!

For the final touch, I added two little white circles that I cut from craft felt and added them to his eyes to bring them to life.

I LOVE it!

It is my Angel Emmitt in an Orange Crush Sweater Vest!

Here are all of my yarn paintings as of May 2011!

They are all available as signed prints and note cards in my Etsy Shop for you to enjoy.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions about this tutorial.

I am always happy to answer them!

Do not worry about not knowing exactly what to do when you start. It will become clear as you go and you will develop your own style and techniques.

There is no right or wrong... Just FUN!

I would love to see what you make when you are done!

Please email me a photo and I will blog about it!

Here are some yarn paintings other people have created and shared with me. :)

They make my heart sing!

I cannot wait to see yours!

xoxoxoxo

Melissa

New Pug Yarn Painting ~ Pretty in Pink

Hi everyone!

I am so excited to show you my latest yarn painting!

I cannot believe it, but it is my 12th Pug Yarn Painting already!

In celebration of all of the fun I have had creating them this year, I have decided to feature them in my Pug Art Calendar for 2012 that I will release this Fall for you to enjoy!

Until then, you can always purchase all of my yarn paintings as signed prints and note cards in my etsy shop.

I took lots of photos of this special painting - A63 - come to life from a print to a fiber art creation!

If you would like a more detailed tutorial of how I create my yarn paintings, please click here.

For those of you who have been following the yarn painting posts, this post will be a faster version for you to feel the fun and ease of the process.

I always start from the top down.

I also make sure I block in the lines that I feel are important that I do not want to cover up once I get into the flow of filling in the design with my yarn. :)


To add interest to the design, I love changing textures of the yarn as well as the directions that I lay them from curvy to horizontal to vertical.

Ta Da!

The pug is all filled in already!

I thought a pink background would be pretty for this puggy.

With a cup of tea and a relaxed, zen like flow, I really enjoyed filling it in.

My final touch is always to cut out two tiny white circles from regular craft felt to highlight the eyes.

Ta Da!

What do you think?

Is she pretty in pink? :)

Thank you for always playing with me and Archie!

You all mean the world to me!

Please let me know if you ever make a yarn painting too!

I would love to see!

xoxoxo

Melissa

New Yarn Painting ~ Teddy the Corgi

Happy Thursday everyone!

I am soooooo excited to show you the newest yarn painting I just finished!

I made it for my wonderful twin sister, Melanie and I just surprised her with it!

It is a portrait of her corgi, Teddy!

I just love how it turned out!

Yarn Paintings are so FUN and easy to make!

I have written a step by step tutorial for you if you would like to make one too.

I love making yarn paintings because they are relaxing projects that only use simple supplies that you probably already have in your craft box.

I took lots of photos for you to see Teddy pop to life from a simple photo to a rich yarn painting!

I started with a photo of Teddy that I printed off in a size to fit my 8 x 10 board.

Then I cut out the photo and glued it to my board so that I could "paint" the shapes with my yarn!

Then I just let the photo tell me where to put the yarn pieces!

I love seeing him pop to life!

Ta Da!

Here is the finished piece all ready to hang!

Melly just LOVED it and nothing in the world makes me happier to know that!

The smile on her face was the biggest hug I could ever get!

Making and sharing art is the greatest gift for me and I truly feel it is what my life's purpose is all about.

I have done several yarn paintings over the years and each one was not only FUN to make but FUN to touch and admire everyday!

I have several of them for sale as note card sets in my Etsy shop for you to enjoy too!

If yarn painting sound like a FUN project that you would like to try, please take a look at my yarn painting tutorial and share the finished piece with me anytime!

I would love to see it!

xoxoxo

Melissa & R-Chee

Archie's Yarn Painting ~ The LOVE Pug

Hi everyone!

Archie and I are so excited to show you our newest yarn painting!

Archie is especially smiley today because I used this photo of him to "paint" with yarn!

I love making yarn paintings!

Anyone can make them with their favorite photos, some yarn, glue and scissors.

I have written a fun yarn painting tutorial for you to see all the tools and techniques I use to create mine.

Please feel free to use this as a jumping off point for your own fabulous creations!

There is no right or wrong! Only FUN!

I took lots of photos for our to see how I created this new painting that I call ...

The LOVE Pug!

Here is my photo of Archie with some hearts glued on a board and ready to fill in with yarn!

I started with some outlining to make sure the important lines are not lost in the process of filling it in. :)

Ooooo! It is so much fun seeing it come to life!

Almost done!

Ta Da!

Archie in yarn!

His favorite place to be! :)

Tee Hee!

For your enjoyment, I have made this yarn painting into note cards and signed prints available in my Etsy Shop.

I cannot wait to see what Archie inspires me to make next!

xoxoxoxo

Melissa