Pet Portrait Collage From Picture to Pattern
In the first two parts of this Pet Portrait Collage tutorial, you saw how values are essential to seeing depth and dimension and how to sort fabrics by value. The next step, making a pattern from a photo, can be a stumbling block for many. Follow along to see how it’s done.
Prepare Photos
To begin, have a good quality photo enlarged to the size of your finished portrait. You will also need a black & white copy, identical in size but reversed (flipped horizontally), for making a pattern.
I used to start by tracing from an 8 1/2″ x 11″ photo and enlarging the pattern afterwards. However, a full size photo provides you with far better information for selecting fabrics and makes the process more enjoyable.
There are several printing options. One option is to print your enlarged photo on your home printer (select ‘poster’ in the printer options) and tape the pages together. Similarly, you can use www.blockposters.com to convert it to a poster, print it and then tape the pages together. The other option is take your photo to a copy centre and have them print the enlargements for you on regular printer paper.
This photo of Gibson, an Airedale, has light coming from the right and shadowing on the left. You can see fine details in his black and gold colouring. But if you look past the actual colours and consider the relative values of those blacks and golds, you’ll see that this photo has a good range of values.
I have posterized and reversed this black & white photo of Gibson so you can see the full range of 5 values: black on his nose, eyes, inside the ears and on his shoulders and chest; dark, medium and light greys in his coat; white on the top and side of his head.
Zoom in to see if you can identify all five values.
Posterizing your photo reduces the colours or values to a set number and is usually used to simplify the photo. It is certainly not essential for making a pattern for collage, but can help if you’re struggling to see the shifts in value. There are apps, programs and websites for changing a colour photo to black & white and for posterizing, such as Gimp (dowload for free), Photoshop Elements ($$), Postershine (free app) and Pixlr Editor (free website).
Once you become tuned in to seeing and reading values, you’re ready to begin making your pattern. When it’s completed, you’ll have a paint-by-number pattern to use for making your portrait.
Set-up
Gather your two photos (a colour original and a black & white reversed copy), masking tape, a fine tipped black permanent marker, a colourless blender pen (available at art stores) and a sheet of mylar plastic (also available at art stores) large enough to just cover your portrait.
- Place your two photos side by side, colour on the left and black & white on the right.
- Place a sheet of clear mylar plastic over the colour photo, about 1/2″ from the right side. Tape the right edge of the mylar to the colour photo.
- On the mylar plastic sheet, trace some registration lines by tracing around the eyeball, iris, pupil (if it’s visible) and the fleshy part of the nose. Use the colourless blender marker pen as an eraser, if needed.
- Flip the mylar onto the black & white photo. Tape the left edge of the mylar to the colour photo.
- Lift the mylar slightly so you can align the black & white photo with the eye and nose tracings.
- Carefully flip the mylar back onto the colour photo. Apply tape along the left edge of the black & white photo to secure it to the colour photo.
You should now be able to flip the plastic mylar page freely from the original colour photo to the black & white photo without anything shifting. Adjust and re-tape if necessary.
Tracing the Pattern
Now that your mylar sheet is secure, you can begin making a pattern from your photo. You have a choice of tracing from the colour photo and/or the black & white photo. Whichever you choose, you can flip the mylar to the other side to check your work.
If you’re wondering where to begin tracing, here’s a good way to tackle it.
- Look closely at your black & white photo, taking note of the different values from lightest to darkest.
- Now look for areas that read as the lightest value (white/light grey) and trace completely around each area. Mark these as 1’s.
- Start with the easiest shapes and gradually tackle the ones that look harder to define and lasso.
- Now look for the next darkest value of grey, and trace around those areas. Mark them as 2’s.
- Continue working through each value until you have traced and numbered all the areas that read as the darkest value (black).
Tips for Tracing
As you trace, think of each area as a puzzle piece that you are going to lasso. Your tracing line needs to completely encircle the piece so try to keep your pen down until it returns to the starting point. You will eventually cut each puzzle piece out of fabric so it’s important that you completely lasso each one.
As you trace, think of each area as a puzzle piece or a blob that you are going to lasso.
If you’re unsure of how to trace a particular area, flip the mylar to the other side to help you decide.
When the shape becomes more like a wandering amoeba, stretching right across the page, make it into two or three separate shapes to keep the size manageable. Ignore tiny blobs smaller than your baby fingernail. Remember, you can always erase unwanted lines with a colourless blender marker pen.
Once you’ve finished tracing, slip a piece of white paper under the mylar to check your paint-by-number masterpiece. It might look more like a ‘mess-terpiece’, but fear not as this is the scariest point in the process. Check your tracing carefully and close up any disconnected, dangling lines. Make sure all of the shapes are closed and have been assigned a value.
Tracing to Muslin
Next, you’ll trace this pattern onto a piece of light muslin.
- To ensure the correct orientation, flip the mylar plastic onto the original colour photo.
- Slide a piece of white paper underneath the plastic mylar to reveal your pattern.
- Drape the muslin over the mylar plastic, covering the entire pattern. Now, tape down the four corners and smooth the muslin so it is taught.
- Use a light touch to trace your pattern onto the muslin, omitting the numbered values. If you’ll be using very light fabrics for your portrait, trace with a light coloured marker.
- Transfer the muslin to a portable design wall.
Now stand back and admire your masterpiece. Notice how it looks just like your photo? Amazing, isn’t it? A little bit intimidating, maybe? Not to worry, you’ll be working on one puzzle piece at a time.
You’ve earned a break so be sure to have a good stretch and rest your eyes. When you come back, you’ll be ready to dive into your fabric stash.
If you’ve followed along, congratulations on making it this far! I hope you have a better handle on seeing and reading values in both fabrics and photos. With a little practice, you’ll be ready to get to work creating your own unique quilted pet portrait collage.
Send me a message if you have any burning questions and I’ll do my best to answer.
Are you ready to put this knowledge to use and make a stunning fabric collage Pet Portrait? This is just one small part of the comprehensive online course which you can learn more about here: Pet Portraits: From Picture to Pattern.