making veronica

Veronica baby, you makin' me crazy.

Veronica was my muse. In November of 2012, I set a lofty goal of 5 pet portraits by Christmas. On the 25th of December, we were to drive from Massachusetts to Philly to spend a couple days with my boyfriend Dave's family. I knew this goal was ambitious, and at some point during a mild panic in mid-December, I decided I would gift his family half-finished pets. They'd get the eventually, and at least they'd see the thought at Christmas.

Part of the reason I was behind is that Veronica's fur drove me to distraction. Her complex fur composition had me distracted for weeks.

Veronica was composed of three fabric pieces. Her construction was quite simple. Her fur, however, is variegated and carries a lot of depth. Each strand has stripes of its own, creating layers of dimension. On top of this are many stripes and spots.

I was so excited to recreate her fur. I couldn't match the beige outer tones of her fur with the perfect fabric or embroidery floss. In lieu of the perfect color, I used color pointillism to create hue change in the beige where necessary. This helped to create the depth of color I was drawn to in Veronica's fur.

I made dozens of tiny stitches. I made so many that by the end, it was difficult to pierce through the embroidery floss web on the back of the piece.

Playing with the portrait. She ultimately became an ornament.

"I Love Myself" ~ Courtesy of TWPowell

Veronica, like many muses, wore me out. I grew tired of trying to capture the varied points of color accents. Embroidery has many limitations, and with a subject as detailed as Veronica, and a palette as small as my 1.3 square in. fabric cut-out, there's only so much that can be done.

This is where it's time to get creative. I am a detail person. I like to think about the details. But I also love problem solving. And this was a problem to be solved. I decided to focus on her most striking features, make them bold, and compliment them with pointed color mixing.

Ultimately, I grew to be most fond of her playful, tail-less sister Flopsy. But Veronica will always be the one who got away.