Canvas will never come in as many colors as we would like. We create different colors of backgrounds through stitches, but what if we want to use and open stitch in the background? The white canvas constrains either our stitch choices, if we want a non-white background, or our color choices if we don’t mind white showing. Colored canvas helps but only somewhat. If I want a background that is darker than sage green canvas (light muted green), lighter than Victorian GrEen (dark green), and not as intense as aquamarina (light saturated aqua), I am stuck.
The heart above shows one possibility — sponge painting. But this does not give a solid background
A free PDF from EGA is coming to our rescue with a great idea — color washing! Kate Gaunt provides us with illustrated step-by-step instructions on doing this.
She shows us her thread choices and then how to paint the canvas. I’m going to try this soon on some different canvases to see how it works. I’ll share the results with you.
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
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