Design process....

In response to a request that I show as much of the design process as I can, I'm posting a few of the scribbles I've been doing lately. I keep scribbling little sketches of Mary. From them, and the mind-work that has been going on, I have decided on the pose I want her to take, and how she is to fit into the narrow tapestry that will feature mostly her and the baby Jesus. I have also decided that, partly due to the narrowness of the area she will be in and partly due to my own experience as a new mother (long ago, but not forgotten), I want her to be in a more intimate pose than the Morris tapestry and most other nativity art shows her in.

The majority of the design process can't really be visually posted. I am designing while I drive, while I do house chores, while I work on other things in the studio or at the gallery, and even while in church. In my mind-work, I have determined what animals will be included and, to some extent, where they will be. I also know the pose I want for Joseph, but haven't begun 'scribbles' of him yet. I know what I want in the upper borders: landscape from the National Monument on the right side/Mary tapestry, and landscape from the Grand Mesa on the left tapestry. The Mesa is east of here, so there will be a bright star in that landscape, representing the 'star in the east.'

So that is how the design is progressing so far. I have drawn Mary up on the canvas that I will paint to be the maquette. I don't usually do an oil/canvas maquette. I have usually done one on a watercolor board, because I use paint, colored pencils, collage, or whatever it takes to put together the visual image from my mind. But I have become more comfortable with oils, so will try to do this maquette in paint. It may still end up with other media added, but I would like to keep the maquette fairly 'clean and tidy' so it can be shown to the client. It is not easy to pull something out of your brain to show someone else.... as I am not Dumbledore.