Neocolor II Portraits......Suzy & Baby Goat

I am enjoying incorporating two of my passions:

Photography & Quilted Art

I continue to alter images in Photoshop and print them on fabric for the purpose of adding color with

Neocolor II crayons

My son's Jack Russell, Suzy

has become a common subject in my quilts.

I think because I have so many photographs of her.

Here is Suzy snuggled into a quilt.

This has been printed on 13 x 19 Fabric in Black & White

I normally start with the lightest color first, which was Suzy.

However, I was unsure of how to color her, so I started with the quilt.

Sometimes all you need to do is just start coloring...

You get comfortable with the colors...

You work intuitively...

Portions of this have been painted with the water solution and are vibrant.

This piece is now ready to be basted with batting and backing fabric.

I am anxious to get it to the sewing machine...

Last Spring I spent time down at the Goat Barn.

I took a lawn chair and my camera.

The bouncing baby goats kept me entertained for hours!

These big close up images work best for this Neocolor Technique.

This image has been altered in Photoshop, then printed on fabric.

Here is Baby Goat

Ready for Quilting...

CLICK HERE to view Baby Goat Quilted

CLICK HERE to view Photoshop Elements Tutorial

CLICK HERE to view one of Suzy's Quilts

CLICK HERE to view Gunnr's Quilt

CLICK HERE to view A Day at the Goat Barn

CLICK HERE to view Cowboy Flavor

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full......of Portraits,

LuAnn

Neocolor II Iris Portrait....In Progress

I continue to work with the

Neocolor II Water Soluble Crayons

This is a photo I took last summer of our Iris bed.

The Pink Iris are a perfect subject for this type of portrait.

One big focal point works best

Let's see where the day takes us...

Black & White image of the iris is printed on 13 x 19 inch Fabric on the inkjet wide path printer

I begin with the lightest colors first.

Yes, this is like coloring in a child's color book.....and it is fun!

Yes, I will be offering this as a class later this year...

Yes, I will post the class offering so you can sign up.

Continue to color in each petal of the flower, shading & highlighting as you go.

You can see on the left side of the flower, I have taken a darker crayon and traced around the edges of the petals to define them.

At this point, the entire flower is colored in with Neocolor II Crayons.

I will not color in the background until later...

This is where the fun begins:

With a solution of water and textile medium...

the flower is wet with a small paintbrush.

I love that vibrant color !

One last petal and then the inner flower portion and the Iris is done...

The entire flower has been painted with the water solution.

After it dries, I will begin the background areas.

The Iris photograph has an out-of-focus background of green leaves.

I could simply color it all in green, and that would look great.

I could color it all in blue, to represent the sky, and that would work.

But, I love the iris leaves, so have drawn them out freehand in the background.

At this point the background is colored in with the crayons...

Time to wet it down...

The colors remain this vibrant even after the piece is dry.

It is now ready to be basted with batting and backing and go under the needle!

CLICK HERE to view the Iris...Quilted.

CLICK HERE to view Photoshop Elements Tutorial

CLICK HERE to view Gunnr's Neocolor II Portrait

CLICK HERE to view Neocolor II Class

CLICK HERE to view Rust Dyeing

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn

New Printer & Neocolor II Portraits

This new wide path printer will allow me to print images

13 x 19 inches

I am interested in printing onto fabric

Epson WorkForce 1100

My interest in this computer is the DuraBrite Inks

They are water resistant and fade resistant.

Which means, I can print directly on my own fabric.

I no longer need the commercial treated fabric sheets.

I can cut fabric to the size I need, and am not limited to the 8x11 fabric sheets.

This means freedom to print and create on fabric.

time to unpack it, set it up,

and let her stretch her legs...

I ironed 13 x 19 white fabric onto freezer paper

and made my first print:

This is our dog, Gunnr, printed on Fabric

He has a face that is just perfect for portrait work

I am making a 12 x 12 inch portrait

Neocolor II Water Soluble Crayons

are perfect for this technique.

I start with the lighter colors, then work my way to the darkest.

This is like coloring in a child's coloring book.

After all of the coloring is done, I use a brush to apply water to the fabric.

This brings out the vibrant pigments in the Neocolor II Crayons.

A hair dryer speeds up the drying process, and also helps inhibit too much color blending.

Gunnr 12 x 12 Portrait

This is now ready to be basted with batting and backing fabric.

Can't wait to get this under the needle...

I couldn't resist printing out a couple more images with the new printer:

Baby Goat

Suzy

The fabric sheets feed easily through this new printer.

I think it is a keeper.

Once I refine my techniques, I plan to develop this into a Portrait class.

CLICK HERE to view a Neocolor Tutorial

To print your image like a coloring page:

Import the image into Photo shop.

Using your filters: double click photocopy.

This will remove all of the color.

You now have a coloring page image to print out on fabric.

CLICK HERE to view Photoshop Elements Tutorial

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn

Grape Leaf......Inspiration

I am heading out to the Thread Shed to finish up the quilting on the Raffle Quilt, but before I go I thought I would share some inspiration from the back yard...

Grape Arbor

Click Images to Enlarge:

Looking through the grape arbor across the river to the cow barns

Last month the leaves were much more brilliant than they are now.

Glad I had the camera with me to capture them...

What I find most interesting about the grape leaves is how intensely lime green the veins are...

The grape leaf images have inspired me to print them on fabric...

I cropped most of the images and concentrated on the veins:

Grape Leaf Images......Printed on Fabric

I am anxious to get these up on the design wall and see where it takes me.

But, right now I need to get the quilting, hanging sleeve & label done on the raffle quilt before I can get started on anything new...

Feel Free to use these images in your personal art work.

Always glad to share...

CLICK HERE to view Rust Dyeing

CLICK HERE to view Mixed Media Quilts

CLICK HERE to view Cattle

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn