french curves
‘Complete Stretching’ - Maxine Tobias & John Patrick Sullivan (1992/Knopf)
picked this up in the ballet days, trying to achieve better flexibility and turnout.
slightly different goals nowadays. glad to have held on to this.
came across ‘Bob and Brad’ today. super helpful, given the current circumstances.
“Skeleton Sam” with shoulder-saddled Gumby were eerily on the nose… !
visualizing auto encounters. just getting started, trying some things out. here’s where i’m at:
‘Courtesy Van’
Toyota Warhawk… ?
using french curves for the first time – in earnest. it’s interesting. gonna take some getting used to.
Pearl’s Shapes
“A Single Pale Rose” - ‘Steven Universe’; Season 5, Episode 18 (2018)
keeping it together
looked at a few hair color and border schemes once the chibi-inspired head design was finished. came across some cool references at characterdesignreferences.com when i was researching Steven Universe character design.
watched Steven Universe with Sam during lunch today, as usual. the episode, “Keeping it Together,” was Garnet heavy, no complaints here. Garnet is a pretty boss gem and definitely my favorite. i identify with Garnet a whole lot. the show is great, and each character is relatable in one way or another, except for Onion, maybe? no, no way. Onion is a big deal. i love Steven Universe…
Garnet focused episodes get me so hyped. “Keeping it Togehter” was pretty dark though, not as much fun, uplifting stuff going on. it kicks off with laundry folding (yuck!), then Ruby and Sapphire nearly split after experiencing internal conflict (yikes!).
got me to thinking about my Garnet patch — the one i made last year — and that i hadn’t done anything with the pictures i’d taken. so here that is, because why not? better out than in!
i started with a full body Garnet reference (which would have been so cool!), but decided it would have taken more time and resources to make than i necessarily wanted to spend on a patch at that time. so i re-illustrated Garnet to a chibi-inspired head. Garnet’s whole form is rad, she has gauntlet hands for Peedee’s sake! but probably my favorite part of Garnet’s physical form is her hair. for lots of reasons, one being that it’s awesome! i was on the fence about making her hair frame her entire head. happy i did. more merrier hair.
6/20/20 - filler stitches for Garnet’s face and shades
6/21/20 - outlining face and features
6/21/20 - starting Garnet’s hair. stitched french knots using a lightweight wool yarn.
6/22/20 - just before this point i realized i should have dissolved the stabilizer before stitching the hair…
6/25/20 - the color in this pic is goofy, and there’s cat fur everywhere… but look at that hair!
6/25/20 - choosing between satin and cotton stranded embroidery floss. had also just trimmed the fabric leaving a 1/8” or so border for stitching in yellow. used tacky glue at the edges to prevent fraying.
6/26/20 - decided to use the regular cotton six-stranded DMC floss in color 973 - bright canary.
alrighty, a few hot tips — no… super tips! — i’ve taken away from this process:
stabilizers are great for transferring designs onto dark fabric. i’ll try using tear-away stabilizer instead of water-soluble next time. and/or don’t embroider outside and then water the garden… had issues with water-soluble stabilizer on another embroidery project after this one, so it’s not just situational.
soak the fabric to dissolve the stabilizer before starting dense stitches (especially if they’re wool). i didn’t do it here until after starting on the hair. it became apparent that soaking it and trying to remove the stabilizer after finishing the french knots would be frustrating. it wasn’t too bad getting it out of the stitches i’d already done, but there wasn’t any reason to keep it, it was just a large fill area with no design information.
don’t need to use mod podge or heat n bond on the back of the patch. i used a heavyweight cotton for the base and the stitches were pretty stable. i would consider starting out with fusible stabilizer on the back (wrong) side of the patch fabric if i felt it needed more structure.
mod podge is pretty runny, and even though i used it carefully it came through the front stitches a little. some of the glue got into the satin floss fibers of Garnet’s shades. bummer…
i used the heat n bond on the back of the patch thinking it would make it more rigid. it did not… it’s intended for making iron-on patches and fusing appliqué. skip it.
uh, do this more. yeah… more things like this.
when i was working on my Garnet patch identity was the topic on everyone’s lips. June 2020 was a time. yeesh… i was still at my last office job and felt isolated and invisible. i saw myself in Garnet, and wanted to make Garnet visible on me. making the patch was an escape from the world, basically; and the process of making, now as ever, has kept me together. last June, through all the bullsh-t, i was able to make space to protect my mental health and exercise creativity authentically. one of my earlier revelations! was realizing i had the agency to do so. it’s a process, baby…
my Garnet patch lives on the back of my jean jacket, which — oh! — reminds me of another time from last year! Sam and i were eating at a seafood spot we really enjoy, celebrating our anniversary and my departure from “work-work”. i was feeling good, feeling confident, feeling myself. i can’t remember who shot first, but eye contact was made with one of the servers and she said, “great patch, i love Steven Universe!” ugh, cherry!