When you look at a needlepoint canvas that has shading, it’s easy to think that you should shade everything that has a gradation in color. That’s especially tempting if the item is something realistic, such as a flower.
Doing that would be incorrect. Yes, shading indicated by changes in color on a canvas. But a change in color does not always tell us that we need to shade. Shading happens when there is continuity between the parts of the item indicated by the different colors. Think about a multi-colored rose, below.
Look at the outer petals of this Double Delight rose from Ludwig’s Roses. You can clearly see the change in color from dark pink to white. That’s a great example of a circumstance where you would use shading. The sunset sky of my Botswana angel, above, shows how this works in needlepoint. Petal or sky or something else, shading works because it is done on a single thing.
You also shade when there are shadows or folds. Look at the rose again. See how where one petal overlaps another a shadow is created? When stitching you would shade within the same petal to go from shadow to light.
You can shade to show shape. If an item is rounded you might want to shade to edges of the object to show that they are further away from your eye. That’s because colors get more grey and more dull as are further from you. Shading allows you to do this. You’d use this kind of shading when you were stitching a face for example to define different areas and give it shape.
No doubt you can think of other times to shade.
But there is one time when you never shade. Do not shade when the color change indicates that one item has ended and another one has begun. Look at the two outside rows of petals on the right in the rose. See how the center petal in the second row overlaps the outer petal of the outside row. Do you see how clearly the edge is defined?
If this was a needlepoint would it be painted differently than the color change in a single petal? Probably not. But because it is a hard edge, the color change indicates a break. If you shade over the change you erase the break by creating a transition between the colors. Wherever a natural break occurs, do not shade.
On some canvases these hard breaks and edges may be hard to distinguish, but getting them right will keep the item looking realistic instead of blob-like. When in doubt look for pictures of the real thing to guide 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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