For my wanderlust themed fabric design I decided to focus on the farmlands of China. Recently I was lucky enough to see an exhibition of the famous Terracotta Warriors on display at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. The life-size, incredibly detailed sculptures were only a few of the thousands of warriors buried around 210-209 BC in the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, the First Emporer of China. The clay army was discovered in 1974 by a group of farmers digging a well. I love the idea that such a precious artifact was found under formerly generic farmland. I started researching what the actual farmlands of China looked like on Google Earth. After hours of research I decided the shapes and patterns of the fields had to be the subject of my fabric and an aerial view would provide the perfect stance from which to admire them.
Faraway Farmlands 10×10
- Faraway Farmlands Coordinating Colors
Besides Google Earth I also scoured Flickr for more close-up detailed views. Two images by Feng Wei Photography provided an invaluable resource for both shape and color. I love the detailed precision of the fields as well as the overall flowing composition they provide. The images can be viewed here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fengwei888/8239274859/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fengwei888/8239311755/in/photostream/
Faraway Farmlands Detail
Thanks so much for checking out my first design!
Cool pattern Jessica! Love the inspiration and overall look
Beautiful work! Very useable as fabric. Your sense of color is wonderful.
Your design rocks Jessica! And I love the thought process behind it
I love the colors and the wonderful pattern of this fabric. It’s really orginal.
really unique colors, Jessica! i’d like to see that show at AAM. your research photos are cool. i also like how much movement the pattern has even though it’s representing a flat surface.
love your fabric. everytime I look at it I see the outlines of elephants in the blue and grey lines.
Wow…I love your design Jessica! Your color palette is fresh and eye catching! You did a wonderful job translating your inspirational photos into your design.
I love the colors and theme of the fabric, Jessica! I like how you were inspired by something ancient but used modern technology to create something beautiful.
Great job! The quality of your line work is really great, it shows a good personality and adds a personal touch to the pattern.
Thanks so much for the comments everyone!!! I’ve been pretty sick this week so I’m just getting around to making comments myself!
dang, jess! dang.