Monthly Archives: October 2015

Turbo Embroidery!

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This month I have been powering through ridiculously time-consuming embroidery projects, clocking eight-hour chunks over and over.

Embroidery Suzanne Forbes 2015Mystic Hand Embroidery by Suzanne Forbes

(When Netflix asks if I’m still watching for the third time, I’m allowed to hit yes but have to stop the next time! I love embroidering so much it’s easy for me to overextend and I had tendonitis last year. )

Also I finally got a Swarovski crystal application tool that runs on EU current. It is vicious- it heats up so fast. suz by mike estee

My friend Mike, who took this nice picture of me working like a fiend, pointed out that the current here is a BEAST. And of course I have already burned myself with it. I don’t mind, though.

It’s like burning yourself with the glue gun- it helps you know you’re alive!

Moth Embroidery by Suzanne ForbesI decided to try scanning the pieces besides using my pathetic photography “skills” and D’s iPad. The color reads a little cool but I think you can see the details much better. As I’m increasingly doing re-embroidering, going back over every stitch many times with layers of color and metallics, it’s nice to be able to see all the work.

Also I realized it’s time I start signing these on the front, and I’m really happy with how the deco monogram came out!

 

Ballpoint.

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Original drawing by Suzanne Forbes October 2015 BerlinI adore life drawing with ballpoint, because there’s nothing to hide behind.

Either you have the skills to depict the space in front of you, or you don’t, and every hesitation mark and mistake is there forever. I’ve made a few ballpoint drawings over the years that I really love. And of course over the years I’ve made a lot of drawings of men sleeping, particularly my third husband.

A sleeping person is an amazing subject for life drawing, because they’re far more still than anyone awake will ever be.Sideways1_Suzanne_Forbes_2015

My husband is a particularly good sleeper, and his clean features and sharp Black Irish coloring make him a easy subject from any angle. So I’ve been doing an exercise where I take my glasses off and actually lie down beside him and make the drawing with my head on the pillow next to him, sideways. The drawings look off while I’m doing them, on the sideways sketchbook, but once I rotate the sketchbook to its proper orientation, they correct. It’s totally weird and interesting!