Graduation Gift!

 

Welcome back!

I've finally stopped procrastinating and I'm able to post something new. 

See this?

This is my cousin, A. 

She just graduated, and last minute, the night before her open house celebration, I decided that I DEFINITELY had time to make her a gift. 

Sooooo, I texted her and asked if she had any graduation photos she could send me.
She sent me about 10, and I studied them VERY closely, to determine if any were a worthy option to turn into art.
I had to consider the lines of the art, and what would look odd and what wouldn't.
I finally decided on the photo up above, and got to work. 

And two hours later....HERE IT IS!

See! Isn't it CUTE?!?

I do like how it came out, even if I had TONS of trouble with the pant legs,
 but it worked out in the end!

(please don't look too closely, I COULDN'T fix it, and now I know how to, but I already gave it away...)
 

Now, allow me to explain the steps a bit...

just enough for you to understand how much work it is, 

but not quite enough for you to copy me. 

...

Haha!

Aaaanyway...

 

Step #1: Pick a photo
(I talked about that a moment ago, but I'll go over it again, just to refresh you!)

I look over the photo options, and decide which one will look best.

Here, I could see clear, crisp outlines for everything (hair, shirt, pants, face, hat...)
And I could also tell that the background not being there in the final product wouldn't affect how the end result looked.

Oh, there is kind of an extra step, but I actually skipped it for this project.

Usually, I whip out my trusty tablet and pen and quickly, just with a photo editor, trace out my lines so I can double check that it won't look too strange when I'm finished.
Remember the trouble I had with the pant legs?
I skipped this step, and it caused ISSUES.

Lesson Learned: don't skip the outlining.

Step #2: Printing it out

Print your photo in the EXACT size you need the final product to be.

I think I did 5x7 for this one, but I could be wrong. 
(seems like a boring, quickly accomplished step...which it would be if my printer didn't hate me)

Step #3: Find your paper

I dug through my paper for a little while before deciding which ones I wanted to use.
I try to match the colors to the colors on my phone screen as EXACTLY as possible.

Don't match to your printed photo, because the colors tend to not be the same as the original.

I'll label these colors left to right:

1.WHITE:  My basic white I use for the background color/base. 

It's very slightly ivory colored, which I find to be more appealing than pure white.

2. GREEN: This is the color I will be using for the pants

3. TAN: The color I chose for the skin. I chose one I felt matched the rest of the palette well.

4. LIGHT BROWN: This is for the highlights in the hair, and as an accent in the pants pocket and for the plaid design of the hat.

5. YELLOW: Her shirt is almost EXACTLY this shade of yellow, but I did have to compare about 3 other shades to decide on this one.

6. DARK BROWN: This is for her hair! I used a little on the hat as well.

7. RED-BROWN: This was definitely the trickiest color to match. I wanted the brown to be rather red, without appearing to be red or the same as the hat. I did eventually find this color in my orange scrap bin. 

Step #4: Indentation Outline 

Okay, now that we've covered the colors, I start on my outline.

I place my printed photo paper on top of my background and write over it with a pen to leave an indentation.

Like this:

This will show me where to put my strips of paper as I glue them on/cut them to size, but it won't leave an ugly mark in the finished project.
It's really not that hard, but I usually am concentrating on not moving the paper so hard that my arm cramps, which can be rather painful and irritating. 

Step #5: Start Gluing!

Take those large sheets of paper and glue them on!!!

...

Just kidding!

I have to cut my paper first.
I usually start with 2 strips of paper of each color. I would tell you how wide I make them,
but I actually just base it off of how it looks in the moment, so they vary a bit.

Maybe 2-5 mm? 

And as the project progresses, I cut more of a color as needed.

I usually work in chunks, to allow the glue to set in some areas before working on it more.

I did the shirt and then moved onto the arms/face. 

First, I make just the very bare outline, and later I go on to work on the details.

I got all the clothes outlined, and then I did the hair, filled it in completely, 

and then finished the hat.
I just take photos randomly as I think of it, 

which I need to work on...I guess, ha-ha.

I fill in the details (folds in fabric mostly)

And I'm done!

Oh, I do usually take it in and out of the frame a couple times, 

to make sure it will fit properly in the end.

Ta-da!

Last step is a little photo shoot in the flowerbed before I give it away.

Got to get those pretty photos just in case I actually start a business someday!

 

And now YOU too can go and make this quilled art!

Oh, and if you take that seriously, know that I have a decade of practice behind me, 

so you PROBABLY won't get it perfect.

Because neither do I.

I'll probably make another post soon, but we'll see. 
Life gets busy...which is code for "I procrastinate a lot".

-Amanda, 

Sole Proprietor of Quilled in Michigan