As much as I love to create needle felted artwork from my own imagination, I love to take on custom creations to bring a customer’s vision to life! This holiday season I have had a good handful of custom orders that I’m busily working on, but I wanted to share some orders that I have enjoyed this year:
Simba
This was a first for me: needle felt a portrait of a cartoon character. My customer said that her adorable little boy loves The Lion King and loves Simba, and she had a vision to decorate his room related to the movie and the iconic lion. She requested a Simba portrait on a blue background, and then she’ll frame it in a shadowbox.
- I started by choosing a selection of blue backgrounds (the requested color by the customer) and asking her which she would prefer.
2. I searched for images of Simba that I think would look good transformed in fibers. At this point, I may or may not consult with the customer, it just depends on the subject of the artwork.
3. Then I dig through my inventory of natural fibers to find the right colors. I use variances of colors to help with shading and adding depth to the image. While I know the needle felting adds a more three-dimensional affect to a typically two-dimensional portrait, shading really brings out the subject.
4. The beautiful thing with needle felting and working with fibers is that I can easily move lines, remove colors, change shapes with the pull of a needle. So while I may think a piece is complete, I’ll let it sit for a couple of days and then come back to compare the portrait with the original image and edit as needed.
5. The artwork is complete! With most pieces, it will be put in a frame, made into a pillow or the edges finished for a wall hanging. This piece, however, will be finished by the customer because she will put it in a shadowbox to hang in her little boy’s room. I can’t wait to see how it looks!
Thank you for your order, Chelle! It was a fun experiment (I’ve never done a cartoon character before). You’ve taken beautiful photos of my granddaughter, so I was proud to be able to share my art with you for your family!
If you’re interested in a custom piece of art, please email me and let’s discuss: fiberartist74@gmail.com
All Wooled Up 