Thursday 20 August 2015

Trees - Conifer Needles

Forgetting all the exotics and the Nursery grown non native trees, ALL conifers fall into a few categories,
One needle attachments ie. One by One, and Two, Three or five needle bundles.
These include all spruce, pine, fir and larch varieties.

Cedars and Juniper are considered scales in structure. That's another page.

All of them are attached to the branch with a tiny "foot" or stalk. Some are micro and some like the larch have "bumps" several mm. in size.
Is it necessary to include all these details?
Of course not...unless you are trying to represent something specific or easily recognizable.



There are many possibilities represented on this page; the length of the stitching, whether the "needle" is straight or twisted, number in the bundle. Then throw colour into that one as well.

Except for the first two examples, I have done most of this sample with embroidery thread. Is it necessary?
No.
In fact I've moved away from that pricey item for most of my large works, primarily as it's fragile when worked over many times. As a piece becomes thicker with more applications, I fine most embroidery thread frays. My "go to" now is actually quilting cotton.
Why use it embroidery thread?
The colours are brighter and there are more of them!


The first example here presents any single "round" needle.  ( They're not all round. )

The second sample shows 2 needles. As we cross the page, these represent, primarily, all the pines. They vary in straightness, length and number in the bundle. That is an identifying feature.



 I separated the bundles here a bit, to show a little more detail.
The last sample is our flat needles friend the Taxus sp. the Yew. I included this as they often turn up in winter scenes because of their bright red berry. The lower half is stitched but the upper is done with ribbon. (Be prepared to need pliers to pull it through anything with a tight weave.)

Tomorrow? Cedars and Junipers.

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