Paintings made of wool look so similar to watercolors under glass that, only coming close, you can see that these are not paints. Wool painting is gaining popularity every year. Do-it-yourself master classes on creating wool patterns are held for both adults and children.
Materials for work
In order to learn the technique of creating a picture of wool, you should prepare the necessary materials:
- Select a pattern. If you are a beginner, it is best to start with the simplest pictures. You can buy a ready-made kit for beginners and start with it. It is important that wool painting is a pleasure, not an irresistible process.
- Wool necessary colors.
- Frame with glass.
- Tweezers, scissors and backing cloth. It can be flannel or non-woven.
Depending on the image, silk threads, felt and fluff can also be used for a picture of dry wool, and velvet paper is quite suitable for the substrate, if there is no flannel on hand.
An important factor for beginners is a timely rest. An unfamiliar technique quickly leads to fatigue, and the picture may turn out to be inaccurate and “crooked” for the simple reason of a “blurred” eye.
Wool paintings - technique
Pictures of wool with their own hands can make even a person who is not versed in painting. To do this, it is not necessary to be able to draw and master the techniques of mixing colors. Wool painting, the master class on which usually begins with simple steps, is as follows:
- Cut the backing out of flannel or velvet paper to fit the frame with glass.
- The prepared fabric should be glued to the frame substrate with glue so that it is well fixed.
- Since wool painting begins with creating a background, you should think it over carefully. Most often, thin strands of wool from the main skeins are used for this, which can be combined into interesting combinations, creating a background of any shade. If you recreate a picture of a great artist, it is better to adhere to the original colors.
- We lay the strands on top of each other to form overflows of flowers. This creates an amazing effect.
- The next part is the creation of the foreground of the picture. For small details, it is necessary to cut the wool into small pieces above a table or paper.
- Using tweezers, we lay the chopped wool according to the picture.
It is important to remember that each new layer should be checked for volume and thickness, pressing the picture with glass. Since the wool has volume, the glass presses it, and it can "spread" on the sides, smearing the contours of the pattern beyond recognition.
Wool laying methods
Depending on what effect you need to get, painting with wool (a master class confirms this) allows each artist to choose a technique according to their preferences:
- The stretching of the fibers allows you to quickly and easily create a background that is made from long threads more even.
- Tweezing threads is suitable for creating “airy” parts such as clouds, snow, and fluff. This gives the picture weightlessness and lightness.
- Tearing off fibers or cutting them is suitable for small volumetric parts where they can be stacked “in a heap” or in bulk.
Each technique creates its own unique image. Given the variety of colors of wool, which is offered in stores for needlework, you can create new unique masterpieces every day.
Dry Wool Painting
One of the most important points that a beginner "woolen" artist should learn is the mixing of colors. As in drawing lessons they learn to mix paints, you can mix wool. To do this, it is necessary to pinch off the fibers of the wool of different colors and "roll" them in the fingers and palms.
You can also lay one color over another, but in this technique you should know the measure, since too large a layer will lose its shape under the glass and the perception of the picture will be incorrect.
To study wool painting, it is not necessary to be able to draw. If it is difficult for you to transfer the contours of the picture to the substrate, then use the printed image as the basis on which the coat is applied layer by layer.
This technique is available even to those who believe that they can do nothing with their hands. Simple movements are easily given even to the smallest artists who need to develop hand motor skills.
It usually takes about 3 hours to dry wool, but it may take longer to get used to it. It all depends, first of all, on the size of the artistic "canvas". A 20 x 20 picture can be finished in 1.5-2 hours, and a larger canvas requires more effort.
Frame and pattern selection
When buying a picture frame, check that it is collapsible, and the back side of it is very well held by clamps. Given that the pictures of dry wool are quite voluminous, it is necessary that the wool does not "crawl out" beyond the edges of the frame due to weak clamps.
Always correlate the size of the picture with the selected frame so that you do not have to fill in the voids or, conversely, squeeze the finished picture into a narrow space.
For beginners, drawings of flowers, especially large ones, are best suited. While the hand will “stuff”, it is better to perform work without small parts or with a limited number of them.
After the work is completed, the glass of the frame must be wiped, you can use alcohol to make it completely transparent. The beauty and radiance of the colors of the finished "canvas" in many respects depends on how it looks from the frame.
Tips for budding wool painters
Always carefully select shades of wool for your favorite pattern. If you still feel bad color, then the first few works can be done using ready-made sets for painting with wool.
They will help you start in a new business for you and enjoy the process itself. This is not only a calming art form, but also developing creative abilities for everyone who wants it.