I have mentioned in previous posts density is a very powerful design tool. I have also mentioned the concept of developing a foreground, mid-ground and background in your embroidery designs. Earlier I talked about using stitch types and underlay to define these areas. There are two other tools that you can use to develop these area of your design; they are density and color. The forground is the most important part of your design so you probaby want to make these design elements pop by using the most intense colors, full density and the most powerful stitch types (satin stitches).
To create the mid-ground you want to decrease your density and mute your thread colors. To create the background you want to take these concepts one step further. If you are using fill stitches in both the mid-ground and the background you should use a longer stitch length in the midground to make the thread reflect more light than the background thereby giving it more prominance. You can choose to combine these different effects or just employ one but I think you will find that these concepts will increase the three dimensionality of you designs and make them appear more realistic. To see how these concepts are employed in my design colections go to www.kenparsonsdesigns.com