I finished drawing the pattern for ‘ Lady With Fan’ a couple of weeks ago, and began the actual hooking last weekend. I chose this particular painting to hook because of the many chinese symbols in the background. They are all related to a personal sense of peace and well being, and really spoke to me as I was struggling with my sister’s illness.
The pattern is 36″ x 36″…an unusual size. I’ve never before hooked a large piece in a square, but that’s what Klimt did, so who am I to argue.
I altered a number of the background details to make them “hookable”, for example many of “my” leaves, were mere slashes of colour in the original.
I experimented with some 1/8th yard pieces done in the microwave (my first time doing that), and dug through my stash for other colours to try.
I like to begin with the eyes, then mouth, then nose, so I am immediately working with a personality. I also always have to do a lot of altering. My way seems to be…plunge in with both feet, then figure out what’s wrong and keep changing it until I’m satisfied . That has certainly been the case with her face. (I think I’m going to have to give her a name…just ‘lady’ doesn’t seem appropriate for such an intimate relationship as we have).
At this point, I had already ripped out my first attempts at her skin, and had started again.
One of the first things to bother me was her chin…too heavy.
I removed the bottom row of hooking around her chin and was much happier with the result. I liked her nose on it’s own, but it didn’t match with the angle of her eyes. It was too face forward, while her eyes looked left. With suggestions from my good friend Jean, I took out the left side and tried again.
As I look at this picture, I wish I had left this profile….because…
I’m not pleased with how it ended up, and I intend to do version number 3. I did however decide to work on something else first until I could figure out how to fix it…..it’s way too bulbous at the bottom.
I also altered the left eye…adding some white beyond the edge of the pupil so it was a better match for the right one. (the last two photos show the change)
I moved then to the crane, and hooked it with left over pieces from my stash. It is mostly hooked with a 6 cut, and I originally began with a 3 cut for the yellow edging.
It got lost amid the turquoise however, so I took that out and replaced it with a 4 cut. Amazing what a difference that little bit of extra width made to how it stands out.
I added more hair along her brow line, and left little ends at the bottom of the curls on her face (I may or may not clip them off) I hooked her hair with 4 different textured wools all jumbled up together. I love watching how such different wools blend together to make hair that is vibrant and alive.
For the first time in awhile, I have an entire weekend without comittments, so I’m looking forward to snuggling up and getting lots of hooking and reading done.
Thanks for stopping by .