I've been working on several custom needle felted dog portraits lately. Leo is a dog whose photo I immediately fell in love with. What a kind and caring face. Certainly a dog one would fall in love with at first meeting.
Needle felting Leo's portrait has been no easy task. Similarly hard to photograph a black dog, it's a daunting task to create a black dog's portrait in wool roving. Creating gradations of black has helped, along with the addition of brown. I felt I had to zero in to Leo's eyes to capture his spirit.
The other thing that is extremely helpful for me (making sure I am on the right track) is to take photos of the needle felting and double checking the nf photo against the actual photo. Since I've started this post, I have made 3 adjustments to the needle felted portrait and re-uploaded the new photo. (I'm sorry I didn't leave the 3 discarded photos on the blog so you can see my subtle adjustments-already discarded. Note to self for next time...)
I think I'm ready to proceed onto the next step now, turning the portrait into a pillow. This is a birthday gift for an unsuspecting friend of the purchaser. I think she will be pleased with her timeless portrait of her beloved friend. What a friend Leo is... indeed.
