Knitting-Themed Artists We Love: Inspiration from Fiber & Needles

It’s no secret that knitters love yarn. It’s also probably true to say that knitters love anything related to knitting, yarn, and the animals that grow the beautiful fibers we knit with. Art is produced in many ways and there are countless techniques and media that artists can use to express their creativity—fiber and stitching among them. Let’s meet some artists that create knitting-themed art in the drawing and painting spaces that knitters can really appreciate and quickly fall in love with.

Click the arrows to left and right to explore these artists’ work!

Kevin Vallentin

Instagram: @a.sheep.a.day

Living just outside of Niagara Falls in Canada, Kevin Vallentin is the man who draws sheep. For two years straight, he drew one sheep every single day. “There were a few days during that stretch where I’d have to get out of bed at night because I’d forgotten. I’d get up, draw one, then go back to bed.”

You would think that drawing sheep every single day would become monotonous. However, Kevin found a fun new way to invent how we see sheep. He merges dinosaurs with sheep (like his Baaalociraptor and Sheepasaurus Rex), gives them wings, and uses colored pencils to create beautifully drawn sheep that look to have taken a bath in an indie dyer’s dye pot.

The great irony to Kevin’s quest to draw lots of sheep is that not many sheep exist near where he lives! “There’s great hiking and wineries around every corner, but not many sheep. I haven’t actually seen one in person since before I started drawing them. I really need to change that,” he jokes. But he does use photos of sheep as reference and allows his imagination to tweak reality. “The fun for me is in taking what I see and exaggerating it and changing it and turning it into something new. How far I take it depends on the day. I’m [always] looking for sheep with interesting patterns and shapes in the wool, cool looking horns, and expressive faces.”

Erin Archer

www.erinkatearcher.etsy.com and www.erinkatearcher.com

A knitter herself, watercolor artist Erin Archer unites natural landscapes with WIPS sitting on the needles. She came about the idea of merging watercolor landscapes and knitting quite by accident. “I had been doing a ‘painting a week’ challenge with a friend where we each painted something based on a prompt. I was coming up dry with ideas until I thought to combine my two loves!” By combining watercolor and knitting, her art is spectacular enough to hang on the wall of any yarn shop or knitting room.

It isn’t hard to understand what makes watercolors and knitting work so well together. “Delicate, soft layers definitely work well for both water and fabric. My work is purposely very feminine and soft. Something that is often associated with knitting. I love that they can pair so well together.” The end result is a soft melting of yarn into water or a star filled sky.

Originally taught to knit the basics by her grandmother at the age of five, Kate has had to take a break from the needles. “Unfortunately, I am not knitting much right now due to some chronic pain issues. But I love that these pieces keep me connected to the community until I can get back to it.”

Paula Pertile

www.drawingsofknitting.etsy.com and www.paulapertile.com

Author of the coloring book, Drawings of Knitting Sampler [affiliate link], Paula Pertile has spent countless hours drawing out tiny knit stitches one stitch at a time. Just like knitters would knit a sweater . . . one stitch at a time! But for Paula, she actually has to draw each stitch at least three times to create her finished masterpieces.

Her process is labor intensive, but she has a flow that works well for her. Paula works each drawing in a series of four steps. First, she creates a simple sketch of her idea. Then she uses good old-fashioned paper and pencil to create each tiny stitch within the outlines of her sketches. “After I get enough of the idea down on paper, I scan it into the computer.”

Using a Wacom tablet, a pen stylus, and Photoshop, she begins to create a design worthy of becoming a coloring book page. “It’s exactly like drawing it by hand with pen and ink on paper, only I’m using a ‘computer pen’ and drawing on a tablet, and the ‘ink’ is digital. So, when I say it’s all hand drawn, it really is hand drawn. It’s not some computer program where I push a button and ‘make knitting.’ I sit there for hours and hours and hours until my hand gets cramped and my eyes start to blur, drawing and erasing and re-drawing until I get it the way I want it.”

But there is actually a third step to her process. She then retraces the entire graphic to clean it up for the final copy. “The re-tracing goes a little faster, but it’s still one stitch at a time.”

Knitters are very particular about stitches being drawn accurately. It is immediately obvious that Paula knows what she is doing and creates realistic stitches that knitters can appreciate. “I’m hoping that in the sea of adult coloring books out there now, my little effort will find an audience. It might be a very specific and narrow audience, but I think that there are people with my same love of knitted things that will find it entertaining.”

We can’t get enough knitting-themed art! Share your favorite painters, illustrators, and artist in the comments below.

Related: Knitting and Crochet Reels: Content Creators We Love

Krista Ann is a nomadic knitter. She travels with her husband and their fur baby, Phinny, in an RV while she designs knits and teaches at yarn shops along the way. Instagram: @explorewithknitsy | Website: www.explorewithknitsy | The Knitting Rockstar Academy