Needle Painting Embroideries: Dogs
Needle Painting Dog Embroideries by Tanja Berlin
Please see below embroideries that I have stitched of dogs in technique of needle painting.
Needle painting also known as Thread Painting, Painting with a Needle and Silk Shading is a surface hand embroidery technique in which long and short straight stitches are blended together using a range of DMC embroidery cotton colours to create realistic portraits.
Visit the Needle Painting Information Page for more information on the needle painting technique.
Spaniel Needle Painting Embroidery by Tanja Berlin
The embroidery of Jack the spaniel measures 4 1/2 inches by 4 1/2 inches (11 1/4 cm by 11 1/4 cm) and took 45 hours to stitch. I used 20 different shades of DMC embroidery cotton to work the embroidery.
The embroidery of Jack was worked from the photograph on the left. Jack is one of the first dogs that I stitched in long and short stitch. His eyes are deep set and sad but still have life with the embroidered white glint where the light hits his eyes.
The Spaniel is featured in the A-Z of Thread Painting Book and is an advanced project.
I have beginners to advanced kits in the Needle Painting technique and suggest you try one of my beginners needle painting kits prior to trying the Spaniel design as the instruction booklet with my beginners kits are very comprehensive enabling you to get a good foundation in the technique. Where as the instructions int the A-Z of Thread Painting book are concise so you need to have a background in needle painting to work the spaniel.
Old English Sheep Dog Needle Painting Embroidery by Tanja Berlin
The embroidery of Bailey measures 3 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches (8 3/4 cm by 8 3/4 cm) and took 42 hours to stitch. I used 20 different shades of DMC embroidery cotton to work the embroidery.
The photograph that I used to embroider Bailey from, has a cute tilt to his head, but a little to much fur in his eyes.
In the embroidery I made the hair around his eyes a little shorter, so that more of his eyes were showing and I embroidered a couple of white glints to his eyes where the light is reflecting bringing Bailey alive.
If you are interested in stitching your own dog I suggest you get some experience in the long and short technique first. Good designs to get you familiar with working fur are the Baby Burrowing Owl Needle Painting Embroidery, the Red Fox Needle Painting Embroidery and the Grizzly Bear Needle Painting Embroidery.
Pug Needle Painting Embroidery by Tanja Berlin
The embroidery of Jake measures 3 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches (8 3/4 cm by 8 3/4 cm) and took 35 hours to stitch. I used 16 shades of DMC embroidery cotton to work the embroidery.
As there is a limited range of colours in the very dark greys in embroidery floss, I had to dye the darkest grey a little darker so there was an extra grey between the darkest grey and black.
The photograph from which I worked was very dark, I have lightened Jake slightly so that the soft folds of his skin are more visible, giving Jake more dimension.
Note the fine brown hairs in his muzzle. These fine details are important to capture the unique character of this animal.
It is important to keep his eyes in the embroidery as close to those in the picture so that they are as real to life. Jake’s eyes reflect his surroundings (sky and buildings).
If you are interested in stitching your own dog I suggest you get some experience in the long and short technique first. Good designs to get you familiar with working fur are the Baby Burrowing Owl Needle Painting Embroidery, the Red Fox Needle Painting Embroidery and the Grizzly Bear Needle Painting Embroidery.
Teko Needle Painting Embroidery by Tanja Berlin
The embroidery of Teko measures 4 1/2 inches by 4 inches (11 1/4 cm by 10 cm) and took 60 hours to stitch. I used 11 shades of DMC embroidery cotton to work the embroidery.
Teko is a very challenging embroidery to stitch as he has very curly hair.
I started by working Teko with long and short stitches in shades of off white so that his body is smooth.
Then I went back over the top of the body with stem stitch working each curl separately.
If you are interested in stitching your own dog I suggest you get some experience in the long and short technique first. Good designs to get you familiar with working fur are the Baby Burrowing Owl Needle Painting Embroidery, the Red Fox Needle Painting Embroidery and the Grizzly Bear Needle Painting Embroidery.
Shih Tzu Bichon Needle Painting Embroidery by Tanja Berlin
The embroidery of Oakley measures 3 1/4 inches by 5 1/4 inches (8 1/4 cm by 13 1/4 cm) and took 35 hours to stitch. I used 20 shades of DMC embroidery cotton to work the embroidery.
Oakley is a Shih Tzu Bichon cross dog which is a very popular breed of dog in my current place of residence (Calgary).
Oakley is hairy and a fairly challenging dog to embroider as she is all white. It is important when embroidering a white dog to know how dark a shade to go to give the dog dimension but not to make her look dirty.
Oakley’s ears are embroidered in long split stitch, the rest of her body is worked in long and short stitch.
If you are interested in stitching your own dog I suggest you get some experience in the long and short technique first. Good designs to get you familiar with working fur are the Baby Burrowing Owl Needle Painting Embroidery, the Red Fox Needle Painting Embroidery and the Grizzly Bear Needle Painting Embroidery.
Shih Tzu Bichon Needle Painting Embroidery by Tanja Berlin
The embroidery of Roxy measures 3 inches by 7 1/4 inches (6 1/2 cm by 16 1/4 cm) and took 45 hours to stitch. I used 20 shades of DMC embroidery cotton to work the embroidery.
Roxy is a Shih Tzu Bichon cross and was my mother in laws dog she was a real sweetheart and was loved by everyone in the family.
Roxy’s ears are worked in long split stitches and the rest of her body is worked in long and short stitches. Her tail is worked in many shades of brown using stem stitch.
If you are interested in stitching your own dog I suggest you get some experience in the long and short technique first. Good designs to get you familiar with working fur are the Baby Burrowing Owl Needle Painting Embroidery, the Red Fox Needle Painting Embroidery and the Grizzly Bear Needle Painting Embroidery.
Border Collie Needle Painting Embroidery by Tanja Berlin
The embroidery of Babe measures 5 1/4 inches by 4 3/4 inches (13 1/4 cm by 12 cm) and took 50 hours to stitch. I used 20 shades of DMC embroidery cotton to work the embroidery.
Babe is a hard dog to stitch as she has two colours that do not have wide range in shades – white and black.
If you were to use just one or two shades of white or black on the dog you would not be able to create shading and dimension. Careful choice of colours was necessary to embroider Babe.
If you are interested in stitching your own dog I suggest you get some experience in the long and short technique first. Good designs to get you familiar with working fur are the Baby Burrowing Owl Needle Painting Embroidery, the Red Fox Needle Painting Embroidery and the Grizzly Bear Needle Painting Embroidery.
Chocolate Labs Needle Painting Embroidery by Tanja Berlin
The embroidery of Harley and Coco measures 3 1/4 inches by 6 1/4 inches (8 1/4 cm by 15 3/4 cm) and took 49 hours to stitch. I used 16 shades of DMC embroidery cotton to work the embroidery.
Very short stitches are used to embroider the fur in the method of long and short stitch. The stitches split into one another resulting in a smooth finish to the embroidery.
I worked the dogs eyes last, in this way I can check that their heads are in proportion. If the eyes are put in first they distract me from the rest of the body and it is important to get the right personality in the eyes.
If you are interested in stitching your own dog I suggest you get some experience in the long and short technique first. Good designs to get you familiar with working fur are the Baby Burrowing Owl Needle Painting Embroidery, the Red Fox Needle Painting Embroidery and the Grizzly Bear Needle Painting Embroidery.
King Charles Spaniels Needle Painting Embroidery by Tanja Berlin
The embroidery of Harley and Coco measures 6 1/2 inches by 8 3/4 inches (17 cm by 23 cm) and took 110 hours to stitch. I used 13 shades of DMC embroidery cotton to work the embroidery.
Charlie and Riley are King Charles Cavalier Spaniels one is two years old and the other is ten months old and were commissioned to be stitched as a pair in the technique of needle painting.
If you are interested in stitching your own dog I suggest you get some experience in the long and short technique first. Good designs to get you familiar with working fur are the Baby Burrowing Owl Needle Painting Embroidery, the Red Fox Needle Painting Embroidery and the Grizzly Bear Needle Painting Embroidery.
