Stitching the Petals

In building the design of URU, my thought on the blossoms is that the reason Uguishu is so entranced with the fan and trying to figure out what is going on is that the blossoms because they look real.  He's just wondering how the blossoms got on that flashy object (the fan).  Thus, I had to stitch all Ume Blossoms in long and short.

For coloration I thought I'd use a variety of tones - from white to dark pink.  The fan needs to look a bit artsy and this is one of the ways I'm choosing to do so.  The Tree Plums will be a bit more restrained on and perhaps will not have any white to them....

There are many, many wonderful books and tutorials online on how to do the long and short stitch.  For a great tutorial please visit Mary Corbet's Blog with Lessons.  Other authors that I have really enjoyed include:

Art of Soft Shading by Audrey Francini

Crewel Embroidery: With Texture and Thread Variations with Audrey Francini