Process

I decided to use this next portrait in my Circus series to make a "Journey" post on my other blog. I'm going to take pictures throughout the process of making this piece and put them all together in a post to show how I do what I do.

For this Thursday Art Update post, I'll take you through the first part of the process for the Marionette Siblings. I haven't come up for a name for them yet but I have some ideas.

 First, a quick sketch, done a while ago to get the idea down.

 Next, a more detailed sketch.

 Then, I go "shopping" through all of my fabrics for background fabric,

skin tone, clothing, hair and any extra trim I might want to use.

 I iron the background fabric and pin it to size I want. I cut out heads and necks and shoulders, if needed. I also start cutting out their clothing pieces so I at least know what I'm working with for spacing and placement. At the top of this one is a paper cut-out of a hand so I know how far down to place the marionette's heads.

 Finally, I start to pin things in place. Once I know for sure that that is 

where my subjects will be spending eternity, I'll pick out threads and begin stitching.

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Next week, I'll post more pictures of my progress. In the meantime Happy St. Patrick's Day! I don't know about you but I can't wait for that corned beef! :)