After reading through this exercise, I decided that I definitely wanted to try out both techniques. I started with the first sample, where you have to choose an image and transform it into a tapestry. I instantly knew what I wanted to use as my source material. I wanted to use the painting Composition II in Red, Blue, and Yellow by Piet Mondriaan. I think it would work really well as a tapestry.
Composition II in Red, Blue, and Yellow by Piet Mondriaan.
I then took a sheet of graph paper to make a sketch of the painting. And took a strip of card to make a wrapping with the yarns that I had selected.
Sketch of Composition II in Red, Blue, and Yellow by Piet Mondriaan
Yarn wrapping.
I wanted the black lines to stand out and decided to uses a Ghiordes Knot to makes the lines. Unfortunately it did not work. Once I did some plain weaving next to the Ghiordes Knot, holes started to appearing. I then tried to make the line using the Soumak, but that did not work either. I started working on this sample several times and it was not easy. Looking at the design, I thought it was not going to be too difficult to turn it into a tapestry. In the end, I decided to use plain weaving for the whole design and distinguish between the black lines and the black blocks by using different types of black yarn. I did not think it was be easy, but I did not anticipate having as much trouble with it as I had. This means that this sample is not yet finished. But I am going to keep working on it and I will finish the sample. The reason I decided to blog about this now, instead of waiting until I had finished the sample, is because I have already spend a lot of time and energy in it. It was also be an incentive to keep on working on the sample instead of abandoning on it because I have so much trouble with it. Below is a picture of what I have so far. I will come back to this post and update it once I have finished the sample.
Sample 1. A work in progress.
