Practice: Beaches

I spent some time yesterday working on sketches for upcoming pieces this month. Since I have several things planned within my water theme, I like to get ahead on the drawings for those days. That lets me feel more relaxed and creative for non-theme days. You know I love a process. 

Later this week, I want to revisit my time in Hawaii. I lived there for just under two years right after I graduated from college. I have two pieces planned, one for Oahu and one for Kauai. I'm still working on the Kauai drawing, but I came up with an idea for the Oahu piece yesterday. I'm not entirely sure it's going to work the way I think it will, so I want to try it out before I do it for real. If it doesn't work out, I still have time to modify the design. I also wanted to try out the scroll stitch, which sort of looks like waves. I'm thinking of using it for a mermaid themed post I have planned for the end of the month. 

I don't really have a lot of extra time to do these types of practice pieces on top of doing a piece per day. It takes a lot of time to do each piece. Anything with a lot of detail takes at least two hours to finish. Other pieces have taken four to six hours. Having a few days each month as practice helps me a lot, and keeps me from wasting time trying to do something the first time when I may not have it (like on workdays or days I have to run errands or visit my parents). Eventually, I'm going to have to go back to the office at least once a week, so I have to start thinking about how to still create on an even shorter time schedule. 

I like the effect of the stem stitch for the first part of the water, but it takes longer to stitch (this section took a little under two hours). The second section of water is done with satin stitch; it takes less time and also looks good, but isn't as fun as the stem stitch section. French knots as sea foam definitely work, but with a smaller section. Since I like both sections of water, I think I'll use them for different pieces and rearrange when I planned to do certain pieces. That way each piece will look good, and I'll actually be able to finish within my day. 

I also wanted to try a scroll stitch today as another option for waves. I'm thinking of using it for my mermaid piece later in the month. I'm going to. I need to practice a lot more before I decide to use it. This is a good start; I need to work on the position of the diagonal stitch where the loop is made. This is why I practice. 

Enjoy my beach experiment. 

Details:
Stitches: stem stitch, satin stitch, scroll stitch, back stitch, French knots 

Thread palette: 

• Sand: DMC 738 (3 strands)
• Foam: DMC B5200 (6 strands)
• Water: DMC 3845, 3843 (3 strands)
• Scroll stitch: DMC 793 (6 strands), Perle 4240