Main Bead Embroidery Kit Chess queen

“Chess queen” is a portrait of a woman at a chess table: a wide black hat with a red band, a red shawl, and a game already under way. The mood is restrained and slightly theatrical.

What the picture shows

Her face is half hidden by the brim of the hat — only the chin and the red lips show — while fair wavy hair falls over her shoulders. She wears a black dress with a glossy texture, and over it a deep red shawl beaded with a shift from crimson to near cherry. In front of her lies a pale chessboard with a black-and-white piece in the foreground and several toppled pieces to one side. The background is a warm brown brick wall and a dark buttoned leather armchair; both stay as print on the canvas. Beads work on the hat, the shawl, the dress, the hair and the board, which is why the eye stays on the black-and-red contrast. Eleven colours across fourteen and a half thousand beads give the figure dense, almost solid coverage.

What is in the kit

• Artist canvas with the full-colour pattern printed on it — no chart to follow on a screen
• Czech Preciosa beads, 11 colours
• Beading needles
• Instructions and finishing guide

Specifications

• Finished size: 320×400 mm (12.5×15.7 in)
• Beads: approx. 14,350
• Bead colours: 11
• Difficulty: medium
• Base: artist canvas

The piece is vertical, 320 by 400 mm, and looks good in a living room, a study or a bedroom beside dark furniture. Gallery finishing is possible — the canvas stretches over a bar and hangs as it is.