Having been here in the Masai Mara for 5 days and going  on safari for some 30 hours in that time, I took the opportunity to be a little more discerning taking my photos yesterday.

I studied the Giraffe, and I also had good opportunity to get up close and personal.

It’s a hit or miss situation, you can only shoot when you get the opportunity and when the animal obliges. However, I have a piece of textile art in mind and I needed a good source of images to work with.

So today I share some of the images I have to choose from and besides, this is part of the class we have undertaken during the tour.

How will I do it?

I use a program called sketcher and place the image in that. I want to break down the colors and have defined areas, but I want them to be realistic.

I like the way the giraffe is placed in the image. It gives you a surprise, you are not used to seeing a giraffe in this position.

I will enlarge the image and trace it onto a piece of background fabric, drawing every detail. I will probably use just plain lime green, but I would need to audition it first. I wouldn’t use a pattern.

This gives me a guide for placement. I do have a few other tricks for placement, but maybe I will keep them for another day. This image I intend to do as realistically as possible. BUT, then there will be a second one done in Kaffe fabrics. That means I have to work a lot harder on the shading colors, medium, light and dark.

It’s almost 5 weeks till I get home, but this project will be prepared ready to go as soon as I go into the studio. I take a lot of time to consider it and work consistently while I travel and it goes into the journal for completion.

The pieces will be raw edge with fusible on the back. They will be cut accurately and stitched with minimal thread painting in matching thread, the details will be outlined in black or dark grey to give a sketched effect.