Calla lily prep

When I first started beading flowers, birds, etc. I used graph paper but I ended up with everything in rows and it looked like beaded cross stitch. I wanted a more painterly use of beading images and came up with this technique which uses the computer to help "see" the end product and "bead soups" to soften the transitions.

I have a calla lily charm that I loved and enlarged the design to a scrap of paper. Then I will transfer it to a piece of felt or interfacing and baste it on the block.

Usually I work from one image but this will be sort of a composite project and so I started by looking at lots of calla lilies and leaves online.

For reference this time I change an image to black and white and reduce the size to about the size of a postage stamp. If you don't reduce the size first and then try to enlarge the percentage you are working with something the size of a wall.

Then I look at the postage-size image at about 500% and then it is easy to see the light and dark pixels and all the shades in between.... I am waiting til the first of the week because I think a few more beads are coming and then the fun begins.......I can see right away that photographing shades of cream is going to be a problem so I am going to repeat this process with a colored bird on Ati's block and it will be easier to follow. Then I will submit it to CQMag...