High quality handmade Silk Art looks alive because each artist creates it with a personal touch. These artists are masters of their craft. A machine cannot make decisions or infuse passion into its work. In comparison, machine-made embroidery looks dull and lifeless.
Each piece of handmade Silk Art is unique, even when using the same pattern; artists have the discretion to vary color and stitches. You will never find two completely identical pieces; every piece is one of a kind. Machine-made embroidery is just like a print, all the copies looks exactly the same, the color, the stitches, the final product are all exactly the same!

The post 74117 Portrait of Tiger first appeared on silkart.

5. Layers of Stitches – Visual Depth
Silk artists vary the length and thickness of stitches, layering them one on top of one another to create depth of perspective. The Silk Art creation process is different from paintings. When an artist creates an image in silk, each of the individual fibers and their color remain intact. Where a painter would blend the paints to create the exact affect desired, a silk embroidery artist must blend the colors by layering them. The effect is to control exposure of color, depth of perspective, lighting and shadowing, creating an effect not replicated in any other form of art. The more skilled an artist is at layering and stitching the more dynamic the interaction with light. This is a key measurement of quality called Visual Depth.

Some simple pieces may have 3 or 4 layers of stitches; larger works might have ten times that amount. When a Silk Artist creates a very complicated landscape, it has more layers of stitches than are completely visible, building and blending the colors to replicate nature as closely as possible. The same piece of art can become the forest in morning sun, to mid-day, to evening and even all the way to moonlight. It is truly spectacular and beautiful.

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4. Color – the more colors, the more realistic look of the art
Only carefully-dyed, pure silk is used in our Silk Art. We use thousands of different shades of color. The wide variety of tones and shades used by our artists, allow them to create shading and dimension bringing the silk embroidery artwork to life.The same images may made in different sizes and quality levels. Usually, the larger canvases will use a greater variety of colors. With few exceptions, very detailed and colorful artwork will need to be made in larger sizes.

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2. Strand Size – The thinner the silk, the finer the art
The thickness of the silk thread is an important aspect of each work of Silk Art. One silk thread can be divided into 16 individual strands, the smallest, finer than a human hair. A good rule-of-thumb is the thinner the silk, the finer the quality of the silk embroidery.

Overall, the affected of Silk Art is similar to Pointillism. Up close you can see each of the tiny stitches and marvel at the design and execution of such detailed work, but when you step back, you are enthralled by the beauty of the image created.

The post 87141 Opera house first appeared on silkart.

Silk Art is the art of painting with a needle and thread. The stitching is done by hand using silk thread on silk fabric. Silk Art is highly prized in China, recognized as the art of Emperors.

In the west, we learn about Van Gogh and the other great western art masters growing up, as part of our cultural heritage. Chinese children learn about Silk Art. Silk Art’s ancient traditions come from the royal embroiderers, families placed in Suzhou, China over two thousand years ago by the first Chinese Emperor to embroider his robes. The artwork produced by these families all belonged to the Emperor, hence the art of King’s, and our name King Silk Art.

The post 75088 Xiao Yu from Gui Lin first appeared on silkart.

Backgrounds are different
One very easy way to spot the difference between a handmade Silk Art and machine-made embroidery is to look at the back of the canvas. The back of handmade Silk Art is irregular and loose. You can see and feel the knots. Each piece of thread is no more than two feet long and so there are knots when a new piece is started or when the artist changes colors. The stitching at the back of machine-made embroidery is very tight and neat, every stitch is perfectly identical to the next. There are no knots on back of machine-made embroidery, because they don’t need to change thread. Machine thread is very long; each spool is a few miles long.

The post 75055 Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer-Klimt first appeared on silkart.

Not surprisingly, a major difference between handmade Silk Art and machine made embroidery is in the stitching process. Handmade Silk Art allows for a variety of stitches in varying thicknesses of thread, every work is unique. Machine made embroidery is completely uniform; every piece is virtually identical to the next.

Handmade Silk Art begins with stretching the fabric tightly over a wooden frame. The artists use a fine needle and colorful threads to sew each stitch by hand. Machine made embroidery is computer generated and fabricated. Pre-made patterns are input into the computer that controls the sewing machine to make the embroidery.

The post 74150 Horse first appeared on silkart.

1. Artistic Talent – The individual skills and development
Professional Silk Art artists go through a lengthy learning process to develop theirskills and talent. The very first lessons begin on grandma’s knee. For Silk Art families, teaching our children about the family legacy is a centuries old tradition.For those with talent and an interest, formal training starts in their late teens.

Artists must spend ten years as a student and another eight years as a teacher in order to meet the time requirement to be a Master Silk Artist. After five years as a Master Silk Artist, an artist may apply to become a Grand Master Silk Artist. These are general guidelines. Time alone does not necessarily make you a Master or Grand Master. Talent and skill must be demonstrated as well.

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The Black Stallion is a 1979 American adventure film based on the 1941 classic children’s novel of the same name by Walter Farley. The film starts in 1946, five years after the book was published. It tells the story of Alec Ramsey, who is shipwrecked on a deserted island with a wild Arabian stallion whom he befriends. While traveling with his father, young Alec becomes fascinated by a mysterious Arabian stallion who is brought on board and stabled in the ship he is sailing on.

黑马原本是指在赛马场上本来不被看好的马匹，却能在比赛中让绝大多数人跌破眼镜，成为出乎意料的获胜者。19世纪，英国政治家杰明狄斯雷斯在《年轻的公爵》这部小说中描写了一个精彩的赛马场面。比赛刚开始，两匹夺冠呼声最高的良种马一路领先，眼看其中一匹胜券在握，全场为之狂呼。不料在接近终点时，忽然有一匹不起眼的黑马从后面奋力追赶上来，风驰电掣般把两匹良种马抛在后面，领先抵达终点，夺得了冠军。从此，“黑马”一语不胫而走，由赛马场上的俚语发展成体坛上的惯用语。 1861年，原本名气不大的林肯当选为美国第16任总统时，有人也把他称为 “黑马式” 的总统。“黑马”在《现代汉语词典》的注释是：比喻实力难测的竞争者或出人意料的优胜者。

The post 74148 Black Horse first appeared on silkart.

The Wind Horse is a story told in Native American culture; it’s about a beautiful wild horse that roams the land. The wind horse is a free horse, and it is his freedom that inspires him to good deeds across the land. Whenever a Native American was injured or in dire need, it is said the Wind Horse would appear and help them.
One day the Wind Horse comes across a young boy who has injured his foot in a bear trap. Selflessly, the horse helps him and they ride home together. During the journey, the horse senses the thoughts of the young boy – he fears for the future as he has injured himself beyond recovery, and he fears that he will be lonely, unable to join in with his friends due to his injury.
The legend says that the Wind Horse knew it’s duty from then on was to protect the boy and be his friend, so the horse gives up his freedom to live out the rest of his days with his new companion. When the new friends reach home, the boy is healed.

马的精神，是忠诚，是高贵，是奔驰，是不可征服。马的神韵，则是马在与人类同生死、共荣辱的历史中所表现出来的一种奉献美的史诗。纵观历史。马，从远古的沙场尘烟中驰骋而来，雄浑、高昂、豪迈。几千年来，马用自己的力量和赤诚经历了血与火的洗礼，随人类的发展流动为一种精神，成就了源远流长的神韵。马，是保家卫国、惩恶扬善、匡扶正义的英雄征战疆场、驰骋翱翔的翅膀。从人类的发展中去追溯马的精神，更能感受到马是人类最亲密、最友善的朋友的真正含义。

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