Small project (2013) : Sherlock BBC

"Sherlock Holmes - the Game is on"

"John Watson - not a Couple "

When I don't have any money

When I don't know what to buy for my friends

When I'm looking for a small gift, and I don't want to offer something impersonnal but instead something a bit meaningful, here is what you can get : bookmarks. (These were for a friend's birthday.)

Choosing the colours for Sherlock was easy, for John a bit less. But his sweater is quite horrible, I'm glad.

What show was I watching at the time ? It was September, so I guess the first episodes of some new seasons. 2 Broke Girls, Brooklyn Nine Nine, Downton Abbey maybe ? Not a lot of great new shows this year...

Large project (2014-?) : The Hobbit - Getting ready

Yep. This will be it.

Remember the art I showed you last time ? I decided not to do things by halves.

This will be a pretty badass tapestry / cross-stitch / thing. I bought a 1x1.6m canvas in a shop called "Le Bonheur des Dames", an amazing place in Paris, near la Bastille.

(A link :http://www.bonheur-des-dames.biz/index.cfm)

The cross-stitch itself will be 80x120cm. To create a pattern, I divided the art in 4x4 parts, which I will print on 16 sheets of graph paper. I still haven't found the perfect software to create patterns, and I want to be able to make some changes. I use some light orange graph paper : it keeps the colours right but you can easily see the gradations.

Is almost splits itself in full scenes.

A bit of maths now :

On my canvas,I have 6.5 stitches by centimeter.
On the graph paper, 10 millimeters by centimeter.
I want a final height of 80 centimeters.
What is the size of my pattern ?

You have ten minutes.

The answer is (6.5/10)*80 = 50 cm (approximatively).

A stitch mesures (10/6.5) = 1.54mm
So the pattern must be (1/1.54) the size of the final result.

80/1.54 = 80*(6.5/10) and here you go.

Then you just have to resize the art and print it.

The first part...

Traditionaly, you are supposed to start at the exact middle. (You know, to be sure it's exactly centered blah-blah-blah.) But it's a BIG canvas, and when I'm working on it I have to fold it in a very intricate fashion, so I will start where the hell I want to. (Well, yes, by the top-left corner.)

So the storm in the moutains will be the first step ! (And then DWARVES !)

Large project (2014-?) : The Hobbit - Love at first sight

"Bilbo's Great Adventure" by David E. Alter, 1982

Mid-January, I was browsing Deviantart to find some slashy dwarf art to inspire myself and I stumbled upon THIS.

I fell in love. And of course, my silly brain told me : "My, it would make a lovely FUCKING EPIC tapestry, wouldn't it ?" So I started it.

The art was published in a postcard book in 2007, "Tolkien's Hobbit and Lord of the Rings postcard book". I had a link to the amazon.com page, sorry, I can't find it anymore.

The tapestry-cross-stitch thingy will be 80x100 cm. I will explain how I prepared the pattern next time =)

Small project (2013) : Kirby

 

1. Where is life taking me ?

2. Vers l'infini et l'au-delà ! (To infinity and beyond !)

3. Follow the white rabbit.

4. Congratulations you win !

 So I remember, at the time, I was quite melancholic and a bit philosophy-ish. (It passed. Thank god.) And when you watch closely Kirby's face, you can see the doubt in his eyes. The sadness and the pain. Seriously guys. Ultimatly, Kirby's life comes down to running, jumping and flying, always in the same direction, always on the same path.

So I wanted to make something optimistic. Here you go !


What was I watching at the time ? I remember I was playing Suikoden V (I love secondary characters, I was delighted) and watching reruns of Kaamelott, which is a french TV show about King Arthur and his knights. Not to be confused with BBC's Camelot, this not even funny piece of crap. Kammelott is dark, profound, incredibly hilarious, and probably the only decent french drama you can found. If you don't know it yet and you speak french, lucky you : http://www.kaamelott.com/