Venus Eye Trap

 

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I told @wearingjoy awhile back that I’d embroider one of her shirts and today I found myself in a good headspace to draw up a design. Last night, I had a dream about an eye with long lashes slowly opening so I continued with this general idea. I was planning on turning this digital drawing into a watercolor painting using traditional tools, but I’m out of time for the night.   

After I finished this sketch I asked @wearingjoy if she wanted to be surprised or if I should share this drawing with her. She bounced back on forth on her tiptoes, telling me to keep it a secret before exclaiming that she needed to see it. I got a squeal of approval and we decided to do an art trade. I’ll embroider this design for her and she’s going to make me a bracelet, yay!

 

I started with some warm up sketching to get my ideas quickly down. My first idea was this weird creature with flowers at the end of it’s lashes. I’m still planning on finalizing that particular idea later but the Venus fly traps were calling me.

 

After my warm-up, I started to do a serious draft. I liked the idea of an agitated eye with a fly stuck to it. 

I colored in what I had so far but I felt like I needed to add more to the image. Go big or go home, right? I let my pencil guide me to the shapes with soft sweeping motions until I got the desired shape. Then I added more eyes and flowers to balance out the overall image.

 

Then I finished coloring it and now I can use it as a better guide for needlework. I’m deciding how I’m going to block the different shades in my head. I could either block them or use some sort of feathering technique to blend and create a gradient look. I’ll have to do a few tests..._{since I have no idea what I’m doing.}  

 

I plan to put the larger design on the sleeve of the t-shirt since @wearingjoy likes to tuck her tee’s into her jeans, shorts and skirts. I also threw in the idea of putting little flies maybe flowers and plants along the collar of her shirt. I’ll have to test these simplistic designs to make sure they look okay. I really hope I have enough embroidery floss. I might have to place an order for more.  

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Hope you enjoyed the art! 🦊