Line Drawings in Thread

The idea of someone's mouth alone doesn't work as a composition, except maybe in a coloring book. I've decided to add the full faces of my subject this way the viewer gets more of a sense of what the person is doing. On this page he (my father) is reading something that he has just been asked to read out loud. The way he is thinking affects his entire posture and facial expression. As I search for page subjects for the odd numbered pages I am struck how while mouths are my original focus it is their entire expression that appears as I transfer them from photos to line drawings. Most of the photos that make good drawings aren't the most memorable photos, they have to have more defined lines in their faces and folds in their clothing. I feel like I give them a new life as a sewn sketch.

The use of the thread itself limits the sketch in terms of curves and details and these limits have made doing this more enjoyable. I am finding that I work better on projects that have boundries. In this case it is not only the sewing but that I am only using the few colors of thread that we have around. As each image appears in thread it seems to be in a pause, not a pose, as if a moment later the thought would be gone.

The even numbered pages are actual photos that have been places between two sheets and sewn closed. Those have other requirements, they need to have a high contrast of lights and darks for the picture to be understandable through the glassine. (Unfortunately those pages don't scan very well).