Colour Swatches

 

Deconstructing patterns

I found some patterns that I am drawn to and have been deconstructing them and taking note on how they are put together. Looking at colours, motifs and styles. 

 

Shapes around us

Noticing shapes around us.

Exercise pt 1: Photographing shapes.

I chose circles! 
I am now noticing shapes everywhere, so will keep photographing them when I can. 

Exercise pt 2: Drawing shapes

I found some leaves that I found interesting and I have been drawing them. I am noticing shapes and patterns within the leaves themselves and drawing them in different ways. 

Just for Fun

Today we were set a little 'Just for fun' project. To create a stripey, spotty or circular pattern.

I did a stripey and a circular pattern from bits I found in my studio.

Was a really fun little task to do and showed how patterns can be made with really basic techniques. 

 

 

Inspiration - Around me

I have taken some photos of patterns occurring naturally around me.

 

 

Inspiration - Lucienne Day

Lucienne Day with Three Daughters of Mexico at the RCA
Photo: © twentytwenty

Big Circle carpet 1963

 

Black Leaf tea towel 1959

 

Dandelion Clocks furnishing fabric 1953

 

I really find myself gravitating towards Lucienne Days patterns. I really like the patterns with the plant icons, where they look somewhat geometric and structural. 

I also really love the abstract patterns that have a slight tribal feel. I especially love that vibrant pink against the mustard and browns in the 'Three Daughters of Mexico'.

 

 

Riga

 

This is quite a simple design but made to look much more detailed with the addition of textures between the stripes. 

 

 

 

The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design - Module 1

Earlier this year I took the plunge and signed myself up for 'The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design' online course. I will be doing Modules 1, 2 and 3 (Hopefully module 4 at a later date)
I have been waiting patiently for months and finally today is the first day of Module 1! 

I am so excited. I found myself earlier this year at a real low point and decided that I needed something to look forward to but also something that would stir up my creativity. 
I love my work and the jobs that I get but sitting in my little studio on my own (with the exception of a certain spaniel on occasion) I find myself getting stumped creatively. It has been a few years since leaving uni and I wanted something to stir things up! 
I have always loved patterns. I think subconsciously I love them more than I realised until now. I have used found patterns and textures within my illustrations for years (I am an avid wallpaper sample collector. I have draws full of different wallpaper samples as I find the scraps of patterns so inspiring! The staff at the DIY shops must think I have one crazily decorated house!)
I played a little bit with making patterns at the very end of my degree when I made a pattern for the end papers for my childrens book for my final major project. I even got it made into a fabric sample (which I never saw again after my degree show, I wonder if someone used it to make a pillow) but I never really thought any more of it.

I got a job at a party company making sugar cake decorations. A few months in I started doing some design work for them. Nothing like I had ever done before but I agreed to do it as I love design and I love a challenge! 
I was designing a lot of products for them. Thinking about it now... it was surface pattern design really! I designed cake stands, cupcake wrappers, balloons, packaging. I loved seeing my designs on products in the real world!

When I found out about Rachel and Beth's lovely course I couldn't not join in!
It looked like the perfect course and came at the perfect time for me. 

Learning about Surface Pattern design! 

So Module 1 is about exploring your creativity and getting back to basics. Perfect.
I always find myself putting so much pressure on myself for my doodles to look perfect or fit in to a certain theme. This module will allow me to let it all go and just draw and create whatever I feel like at the time. 

One of my big problems is that I don't show my work. I have so many illustrations that I create and never end up showing! So silly when I think about it. 

I will be showing my progress and also inspirations throughout the course, on here and on twitter and instagram. 
I am excited to see where this takes me. 

Playing with colour and pattern

Sometimes when I am busy working on other things, I get out of rhythm with my own illustration practice. 
To get back into it I have been playing around with my beautiful Eco-friendly paints.
I like just playing with mark making to get my creative juices kick started. Its such a good way of freeing up any restrictions or hesitations you might have and also you can get some really nice compositions out of it.
Some of these are nice on their own, and some I will like to draw on and others I will scan and see if I can incorporate them into some illustrations.

Anyway, here are some of my favourite mark making, colour and pattern pieces.

Nothing like a talk from Oliver Jeffers to boost motivation!

 

I visited the Southbank centre on Wednesday evening to go to 'An evening with Oliver Jeffers'.
Was fantastic! I love listening to him talking about his work and how he has got to this point. His talk was even in the form of a story.
One of the major pieces of advice I took from the talk and also had a chat about it with him quickly after, is confidence. He said you need to be confident and believe in yourself and your work, because if you don't, no one else will. Even if you need to fake the confidence to start with, as long as you believe in your work, the confidence will soon come. You put yourself out there and go for it.
Was so lovely to hear him tell me this, face to face, and even though other people have told me to believe in myself for most of my life, it sunk in this time. (helps that it came from my most favourite illustrator)

So I am using my new found inspiration and motivation, I have picked up my pens and pencils, and paint and various pieces of found paper and started creating more illustrations with some confidence. 

I am going up to London next week to visit Oliver's solo exhibition at the Lazarides Gallery, will also be taking a trip to Cass Art to get some new art supplies to feed my new found motivation.


I recently did an illustration for Aquila Magazine, a lovely children's magazine. I will post when it gets published. Exciting!

Kyle McQueen

The other day I saw this illustration by Kyle McQueen pop up on my Pinterest.

I love it. I love how massive the whale looks compared to the tiny boat. What a great use of scale and layout.

I went to his website and have a good ol' nosey and really love his work. I like his textured backgrounds and is use of light is very thoughtful. 

I like that he sometimes includes his work in progress on his website along side the final piece. I find it really interesting to see how people work and get from an initial thought to a final illustration compared to my own process of working.