On Monday, you saw how this design came to be. Once it was printed and pre-treated, I began painting on dye.
As you know by now, I've had several tablets where I finished painting only to have to start over. In an attempt to get it right on the first try, I tried using Photoshop to pre-check my colors. I took a photo of this piece, when I had only painted a few sections, and virtually finished it:
In this case, it worked! The virtual colors helped determine the actual painted colors. In other cases (which you'll see as they're finished) even virtual reality couldn't keep me from making a complete hash of it. Anyway, here's the finished tablet:
A closer look:
....and a few details:
Half of the background pattern is formed with Chinese characters, the other half with Medieval lettering. Just a side note - see the bluish shadows on the white letters? The sewing causes very slight puckering, which, when photographed, gives shadows. In person, the letters read as solid white, but when I creating submission photos, they give me no end of aggravation.
Yes, the lettering is all sewn in tiny, obsessive detail, but look: there are some areas where I did NO STITCHING! I left some areas untouched! Whether this is a victory over OCD or me getting sloppy, I leave for you to decide. Either way, on Friday, we go to another tablet.