Needle Felt Self Portrait

Needle Felt Self Portrait

The technique I used to create this image is called needle felting.

     *It is a form or textile art, not painting.

It is done by:

• First felting your canvas. For me this meant taking a wool sweater and washing it in hot soapy water to shrink it. The process of felting is basically matting the fibers together and can not be undone once it has been completed.

• Next, you lay raw strands of wool, called wool rovings, on the canvas. These rovings can come in virtually any color. When working with colors you can't think of them as pigments such as paints or pastels, these colors do not mix. This can make it a little tricky to get the right look. 
• It may be helpful to understand how a color changes visually based on the colors that surround it. In this way you can strategically place shades near one another that will complement each other in the way you want.  

• Place a foam pad behind your canvas. This will give your needle something to stick into during the needle felting process.

• Using a needle-felting needle, begin to felt your fibers together. This is done by simply stabbing the needle through the fibers, locking them in place and securing them to your canvas. If you change your mind on where you want the fibers to be you can easily pull them out before they have been felted too much.

• Continue this process until the entire image is secured. It takes many repeated stabs with the felting needle to permanently lock the fibers into place, but once you have done this enough the fibers will be permanently secured and you will be able to wash the fabric if you want. 
• For artistic preference you may want to leave some fibers looser than others, this adds variety and texture to the piece.

Close up

This piece is related to my collection as an autobiographical piece. All clothing is autobiographical in that it is a visual language for us to communicate who we are, and who we want to be. This is more or less a very literal interpretation of the idea that clothing reflects who we are.