I just love it when stitchers take the painted canvases they buy and take them one step further. Recently Stitchlady bought a charming Tish canvas at the estate sale of a fellow guild member who had died. I love this canvas and I have stitched it myself.
The original is the pueblo on a sea of white canvas. I did the prosaic thing with mine, stitching a navy blue background and turning it into a long but narrow ornament.
I love what the original owner did instead. First she divided the canvas into ground and sky by drawing a line at the base of the buildings. Then she colored in the ground with a sandy color. The sky is even better. Several colors of blue, I see three, are used to make a realistic sky.
I love it because it elevates a good but simple design to something quite wonderful. If it is sized to fit a ready-made frame, that’s even better!
I like it so much I’m going through my stash for places to try this.
About Janet M Perry
Janet Perry is the Internet's leading authority on needlepoint. She designs, teaches and writes, getting raves from her fans for her innovative techniques, extensive knowledge and generous teaching style. A leading writer of stitch guides, she blogs here and lives on an island in the northeast corner of the SF Bay with her family
Susan harrison says
What kind of paint do you use on the background
Janet M Perry says
I don’t know what was used here, but I use acrylic paint, COPIC markers, dye pens, or markers made for marking on fabric. For anything except acrylics or COPICs test for colorfastness on canvas before using.
Keep stitching,
Janet