Out of My Mind and Onto Paper

I know I posted yesterday that I had been sketching ideas in my head for ( can you believe it) classes aboard a Panama Canal cruise in 2014. So I've got to get these ideas onto paper and get with it to deliver to the organizing company ( World of Quilts Travel).  One of the things I appreciate within Panama is their rich tradition of intricate textiles.  ex. below..

All of this example is handwork.. a good deal of reverse applique, and embroidery. These pieces can take many days/weeks to complete. This is tedious work.

 I like to  honor visited cultures by creating cruise projects reminiscent of the trip..BUT without the lengthy work... so I will reveal my 'experiment' of a painted version as I go.  This could be a bust, but I think it will be great fun.   Everything begins with a drawing.... this is where oversized 1/4 inch graph paper is worth every penny it costs.  I first measure and lightly pencil sketch my basic design.  When fairly satisfied, I will get out the permanent marker to  draw/make a commitment to the sketch.  For some things... like the floral that appears in each corner... I drew it once... then copied it  3 more times on my printer, finally cutting and pasteing to fill all 4 corners.

While many of Panama's textile artists honor local animals as in above, I chose to honor their exotic flowers in their folk art fashion following their fundamental textile culture.

You will certainly find this drawing pretty "busy" following Panama's intricate detail approach.  It is my intent to paint this image with some softer value areas, and leave some  more open space for the eye to rest, but details overall are called for if I am to follow Panama artist's lead. Note: thread spools of varied sizes made perfect circles for the original pencil sketching.

When I create a very complicated/detail drawing like this, it would be easy for a painter to get lost in the detail so I regularly choose some areas to fill in solid  to help the painter know where they are.  In this case it's me and since I did the drawing, I SHOULD know what is what, but if this piece is successful, the drawing will be used by students on the 2014 cruise.    Now.. off to the printer to get a couple copies made for the painting process.