Sunday, September 14, 2014

Design Surface Patterns from Scratch Challenge : Process and Learning Fun

So tomorrow I unveil my design patterns from a course I watched on Creative Live, Design Surface Patterns from Scratch. The course came with homework and a challenge. Below I share my prep work and tomorrow I share the actual patterns. So here you go, the inner workings of Kari.


I started with a photo of one of my watercolor paint boxes and pulled together a universal color palette to create swatches in Illustrator. I created a complete palette so I could have a consistent thread of color throughout all my patterns. Being it is of my watercolor box, I cover all my basic color needs.


Then I was inspired to create a pattern from two watercolor paintings I had just finished. I was thinking about the idea of posting prints of original watercolors and matching interior decor in a shop on Society6. Watercolor medium can be tricky when printing and I wanted a way to share my work beyond selling originals and offering prints. Here are the original watercolors.

Once I committed to the idea of patterns to support my art I began to sketch out themes and patterns in the art itself, trying to understand the components that made up the painting and could be translated into components in a pattern. Here is my sketch book page of ideas.

Then I went to work on the computer, tracing my paintings, pieces and parts and learning the computer software. Here was the first pattern I completed and little dragonfly I traced. I then recolored it for the butterfly. From these pieces the ideas flowed and I found my inner love for all things patterned. From there the theme and colors where set and I was off and running with my simple little collection; The Pond, Dragonflies and Butterflies.



Be sure to come back tomorrow to see the whole collection


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