Updated July 13, 2021.
There has been some discussion around the web this week about fine art reproductions on canvas and it’s getting me a bit concerned. It seems to me that people want every decision to be made for them before they stitch (no room for interpretation) and that many seem to want a needlepoint version of a painting to be, I’m sorry to classify it this way, a stitched “paint by number” version of the original art.
As a result, I’d like to clear something up. I’ve spent a long time studying both the different ways needlepoint designs can be produced, the different ways to stitch them, and the difference between needlepoint and other mediums.
There are two ways to get a design reproduced on needlepoint canvas, by hand and by a mechanical process. By hand, the design is either drawn (line-drawn) or painted on the canvas. A painted canvas can either follow the intersection exactly (stitch painted) or not. Which it is depends on the designer and the design. But it is done by hand, which means that irregularities in the canvas can be compensated for.
Because we stitch so many canvases that are created this way, we are fooled into thinking that needlepoint canvas is straight.
Quite simply it isn’t.
So when something is produced by mechanical means, no matter how good or how expensive, there will be drift and things won’t always be straight. This is true whether it is stamped (cheap kits), silk-screened (Ehrman and Bradley kits), or computer-printed (Art Needlepoint, Sandy Grosman-Morris, etc). I’ve seen cheap kits close to perfect and expensive kits that are way off. There are things manufacturers do to minimize this, but the plain fact is that it cannot be helped.
This necessary limitation in the medium. The effect this has on your stitching is that some intersections will be more than one color. But the same thing happens in canvases that aren’t stitch painted and we don’t complain. In fact, we often enjoy the challenge of working on these more “painterly” canvases.
Why is this lovely in a hand-paint, but not in a computer-printed canvas?
The second limitation is the one of adapting one medium to another. There are two things working here. First, a painting is solid, there aren’t holes. Needlepoint canvas js mostly holes. As a result, much of the information in the painting disappears into the holes. Think about it. If you took the same exact outline and put it on 13 and 18 mesh canvas, you could get lots of detail on the 18 mesh. Same thing here. Things are lost on needlepoint canvas.
This has two effects. You will have to fill in details, and you will need to make decisions about the missing details.
Second, painting is a two-dimensional medium. In it, texture is indicated by changes in value and color mostly. In needlepoint, texture is indicated by thread, color, and stitch. If you tried to reproduce in Tent Stitch the variation in a painted surface you would find, as many of you have, that you are frustrated beyond belief. If you do end up doing this, you may find that the end product looks a bit like paint by numbers; it has no soul.
But if you make a change to some stitches or switch to an overdyed thread you would be much happier. What you have done is not just make the stitching easier, but you have also made a decision about the design and what it means to you. You haven’t made a reproduction, you have made a work of art, adding your artistic sense to the original artist’s through your art — needlepoint.
We are all, I think, too quick to praise the needlepoint on the expensive hand-painted canvas, and too quick to condemn the mechanically produced canvas. But I’ve seen plenty of lifeless expensive stitched pieces and stunning printed ones.
It’s your choice and your art, but don’t let it be a source of snobbery.
About Janet M Perry
Janet Perry is the Internet's leading authority on needlepoint. She designs, teaches and writes, getting raves from her fans for her innovative techniques, extensive knowledge and generous teaching style. A leading writer of stitch guides, she blogs here and lives on an island in the northeast corner of the SF Bay with her family
VERY well said!! I cannot believe someone is trying this again. The Metropolitan Museum did it a number of years ago, and it was a disaster, as mechanical devices, no matter how good, CANNOT equal the precision of hand painted by a designer who cares. Also, as you say, it seems to require nasty cheap canvas that makes stitching unpleasant.
Judy —
I think you misinterpreted what I said. I did not say that this idea was not a good one, I think it is a good idea and these canvases can be quite lovely.
The best ones do not use cheap canvas, they use the same orange line canvas that hand-paints do.
In addition, the high quality computer-printed ones use a printing process called glicee, which gives wonderful color and results.
No they are not as precise, i.e. painted on the lines, that stitch painted canvases are, but MANY hand-painted canvases are not that precise either.
The important thing here is not how the canvas is created, but what you do with it and understanding what the limitations of every canvas are.
We don’t ask chicken to be duck, although both make equally marvelous dishes. So we shouldn’t get our noses in the air and expect stitch painting from canvases that aren’t, no matter how they are generated. WE do needlepoint a great disservice if we do or if we make judgments about quality and results.
There is room for lovely needlepoint of all kinds.
Keep Stitching,
Janet
Amen. Printed needlepoint canvas is perfectly suited for the craft. If the printing is done properly, it is indistinguishable from painted versions, unless you look very closely.
People forget that the canvas will be covered in thread when it is finished! So how exactly does it matter what it looks like underneath?
I want to add that it is possible to print perfectly straight onto canvas with 80-90% success. It is a matter of good design and a good printing process. Pepita has perfected this process and we inspect every canvas before it ships to ensure that it was stitch printed (within reason).
I love to take photos and I use the ones I like best for my needlepoints. They are all one of a kind. I have been in the Woodlawn Plantation Needlepoint show in Va. and was so disappointed that 95% of the needlepoints were from kits! Can’t people do their own thing. When you do it from a photo you took you can make it just like you want it. No one looks at it and compares it with another one. I am over 60 years old and I am not a little old lady with her crafty needlepont at hand. I feel I am a very unique artist and love ever stitch I make.
I am a visual artis( painter), what kind of paint do y’all use tt paint a canvas for needle point? My late wife(died in 2000) was a needlepoint artist, it is an art, and i have just found a bunch of old kits and painted canvas if there a market for them, they are over 20 yrs old, and where would I sell them, Most are in the original package, I found then in my studio which I clean every ten years.
Most needlepoint canvases are painted with acrylic paints. Commercial artists use everything from inexpensive craft paints to artist-quality paints.
My suggestions for selling your wife’s pieces would to contact your local needlepoint shops first. If they aren’t interested I’d look to eBay, perhaps through a needlepoint consignor such as Fireside on eBay, Canvasesbegone.com, Etsy, or Needlepoint Nation Stash Exchange.
Good Luck!
Keep Stitching, Janet