Did you watch the Olympics?? Woo-hoo!! I admit to saturation and the reason I’ve not done a blog for 10 days! I do enjoy the games – the devotion the athletes have to push themselves in a sport they love can be very inspirational. I’m not naive about the money, fame and popularity they can earn but the preparation and practice is still there. While watching I was drawn to the clips of the skiers, jumpers and snow boarders going through their course or tricks in their head just before their competition. Complete. Focus. Eyes closed, hands and body moving while their own video played in their head. It reminds me of the ‘air playing’ I would do with my piano music to practice fingering on a hard piece before a concert. This visualization is a very important part of preparing for a performance of any kind.
Likewise, drawing a color concept is a great way to visualize your final product. Not only will it organize your thoughts and help finalize your overall design it will also help confirm fabrics you will need, threads, scale and color. I don’t do this for every project but I have done a number of color concepts. Since many of my projects tend to take on a life of their own, I like to look back at the concept and compare to the final product to see where I stayed true to my original thoughts or veered in another direction. Looking back, they look pretty close so maybe having the drawing was more solidifying than I thought!
Below are some before/after pics:
Made with Stitches 