The Drawing Board (Back To)
My new publisher would like to see drawings of my design ideas before giving the collection a final OK. This is very sensible, in my opinion, since drawing a knitted garment takes far less time than knitting one. It just makes good sense to be sure that the publisher and I agree on the direction the collection should take, before the knitting commences.
Which is why I can't believe I've never been asked to provide sketches before. That's right: In two whole books of knitting, amounting to more than 50 projects, nobody has asked to see a preview of the projects I was designing. They actually took it on faith that I would make up a collection that was cohesive in palette, varied in skill level, diplomatic in yarn choices, and illustrative of technique. Looking back, I'm floored by the trust my previous editors have placed in me.
But this time, I'm drawing. And by drawing, I mean, using pencils and paper at a prodigious rate to make pictures I hope will represent knitting. Which, it turns out, is not at all easy. I have never been to art class. I had to have a friend give me a crash course in art supplies at the store. And I am so happy that I only have to make hats for this project, because I'm pretty sure that trying to draw real fashion illustrations would kill me. But it's going fairly well, all that considered. And I'm kind of enjoying the fact that I can really see the whole collection emerging, rather than only imagining it.
On the down side, although the book calls for 20 hats, I have only culled my idea pile down to 36. (or maybe 37 - I just had a really cool thought). So that means that I'll have to draw them all and let the publisher choose. And that's assuming that my ideas are anything like what they had in mind for the book. It could be that I'm drawing apples and they want oranges, in which case more drawings will need to be done. I'm submitting the collection on Friday for review, and after that I'll know more. Until then I'm drawing. And Erasing. The level of eraser dust and pencil sharpenings is such that I actually have to vacuum the table off between pictures.
I'll share one neat thing I've discovered, should you ever find yourself needing to represent your knitting on paper: Non-white drawing paper. I got some in gray and some in tan, and both are great for really showing up colors - particularly white and black. I also am deeply in love with woodless colored pencils. They are so much more versatile than the wooden ones. Who knew? Artists, I suppose. Not that we aren't artists, too, Gentle Readers. It's just that our preferred medium is String.