July 8, 2010
All Glory To The Hypnotoad
When I asked my brother what image he might want embroidered to hang on his wall, he immediately said “Hypnotoad.” I have to admit, that wasn’t what I expected him to say, but I was happy to comply.
For those who might not know, Hypnotoad is a random minor character from the alive-again Futurama. As his name implies, he hypnotizes crowds with his crazy eyes. My favorite Hypnotoad moment, an extra from one of the Futurama movie DVDs, is here:
I did a quick online search to find a Hypnotoad image and was overall unimpressed. I felt that no matter how I did this, there would be no way I could get the eyes right. But further searching led me to this picture, a Shepard Fairey-inspired Hypnotoad, and I knew this image could convey all that is Hypnotoad, even without the sound.
The final piece is 8×10 and has roughly 6 billion stitches in it, mostly outline stitch and back stitch. If I ever say I want to make something this big, completely filled in, again, please slap me.
Making Islands Where No Island Should Go 