blending

I'm on the home straight, just lots of subtle colour blending until I reach the top.

I say "just", but obviously creating a seamless, subtle blend has its own difficulties, but at least I'm not weaving lots of interconnecting shapes whilst blending, like the lower half of the tapestry.

This tapestry is proving to be a classic example of why it's difficult to answer the often asked question, "how long does it take to weave a tapestry?" I managed to weave 1ft last week (1ft x 30" wide) whereas a similar sized area in the lower half of this tapestry took around a month to complete. It really does depend on the complexity of the composition/drawing and how you're choosing to weave it.

I'll be finished next week. Watch this space!

 Photograph taken this time last week. I am now less than 3 inches away from the top.

over the horizon

Wayhey, I'm finally in the sky section of my tapestry! After reaching the half way point last month, the horizon, I had a big tidy up in my studio and put away colours and bobbins that were no longer needed. I think I felt smug for half a day before remembering that the second half is almost like starting a new tapestry as it requires a completely new set of colours. I also made things more difficult for myself as I no longer wanted to weave the sky section the way I had drawn it on my big sketch/cartoon (which is tied behind the loom) as it would look too different and disconnected from the sea section, so I'm now working between the original painting, reference photographs and the cartoon. 

I had a couple of days of head scratching and finding new colour blends but now that I've got the new section established I'm fully on the move again. It has grown a fair bit in the last couple of weeks. It won't be long before I need to stand on a scaffolding platform!