DM Design: "Josephine"... Sneaky peek

Hello everyone!..... I know that it is ages since I have put any new "work in progress' on my Sneaky Peek" page but most of my recent projects have been commissions and due to privacy I do not feel that I should share the work.... however I have enjoyed the postings of my favourite designers like Poiret and Fortuny........I hope that you did.

Initial inspiration, My "Ashes of Roses" Painting, Historical, Modern and Redoute, of course

Today I thought that I would give a little peek at the start of my "Josephine" design. so named after Empress Josephine, of France who was Napoleons first wife. She was a lover of Roses and commissioned the famous French Botanical Artist to paint a series of works....... You may know that I also adore the work of Redoute and I use references to his work many times. The first photo is of my initial inspiration board which is a combination of my own artwork "Ashes of Roses" painting with a Redoute book and other images and historical references from French Decorative arts combined with modern Floral interpretations of the French style.

I have already decided upon the layout, technique and end use, which is a border with bouquet encased in rococo work. Slightly looser paint style than the detailed botanical style of Redoute. The idea can be interpreted for bed linens and also as a concept for hand painted walls..... makes it more portable to show potential clients.
I then sketch the idea on to tracing paper. I have to admit that at this stage I work up the sketch quite roughly. If I was instructing young trainees I would instruct them to get the tracing work almost perfect before they transfer on to the paper but I know that I am able to take a short cut and do most of my sketching directly with the paintbrush....... The layout has to be in place though, otherwise the design becomes a "Ramble" Then I sort out the colours and start by applying the basic flats for the floral and rococo work. Next stage is to work up a few areas in the detail. I wanted the technique to be slightly looser than the Ashes of Roses painting that I did last year.... I also wanted the colours to be more fresh and bright. ........ If any one has any questions or comments I would love to hear from you...... I will post the final work but this week I have to return to some other projects ...... so it may be a few weeks yet.