illustrated maps

work in progress - oil on gessobord - 24x18 inches

I've been wanting to tackle an illustrated map of Kingston.  I've been thinking about it for a long while. I have a wonderful copy of an illustrated map from my mother's home town, Stamford which is a gorgeous town in Lincolnshire, UK.  I've spent many happy hours looking at it and finding neighbourhoods I remember visiting.  It's quite detailed; I think the original is done in pen and ink and watercolour washes.  I've also enjoyed other versions of illustrated maps from various places we've visited, but I've never seen one of Kingston, so figured why not give it a go?
A couple of days ago I got out a huge sketch pad and began making rough sketches but I quickly lost my enthusiasm...I was feeling frustrated...painting is my thing, not drawing. I was getting hung up on accuracy and perspective. 
Today while I was having an acupuncture treatment, listening to nature sounds piped into the room I let my mind drift about possibilities and approaches...it came to me that what I really wanted was to paint it. Eureka! of course...why didn't I think about that?  For some reason I was hung up on most of the other illustrated maps that I've seen which are mostly all pen and ink, or illustration inks on paper, so I guess I just thought that's what medium I should do! silly me.  Listening to my heart told me to paint it because painting is what I really love to do. As soon as I started to think about painting it, I knew I wanted to work on a slick smooth gessobord surface so that the brushmarks will remain visible and not soak in like they often do on canvas.
I've only blocked in the lay of the land at this point, but will need to let it dry before I work into it to add iconic Kingston landmarks.  stay tuned, I'll post again when done.  woohoo! this one's a blast:)