Tag

watercolor

Browsing

stretching

I call this post stretching because this pattern was a little bit different than what I’m used to doing. I’m trying to stretch my painting muscles here and really figure out what it is feels most natural for my hands while still having great visual impact. Sometimes that means planning and sometimes it means diving right in.

retro 30 / christina kwan

The inspiration for these shapes was a combination of retro 70s textiles and Dutch illustration. Looking back on it, I could have thrown in a variety of colors to play up the floral-fruit motif, but I stuck with blue for harmony’s sake.

a bolder hand

Most of my work is pretty delicate, leaving a lot of negative space for breathing room, but unless you are face to face with the original piece, it can be difficult to appreciate. Details can get lost pretty easily. So I wanted to break out of my norm a bit and go for something bolder, with stronger shapes and colors that could be seen from afar. Thoughts?

Kwan_OutTheWindow2_2014_lo

This one didn’t take very long for me to do and I love the gesture of the petals, they’re almost calligraphic at times. In doing this, I also rediscovered how seductive black can be – definitely on my to do list for future patterns. More black.

bridget davies illustration

Getting myself mentally and emotionally prepared for making work is as important as actually making the work. The first step always is and always will be finding inspiration in the talent of others. Thankfully, Pinterest and Tumblr make it easier than ever to find new artists to be jealous of. One such artist is Bridget Davies.

illustration by Bridget Davies

illustration by Bridget Davies

While it doesn’t fall in line with exactly what I do, it has that wonderful balance of whimsy and elegance that I am always so drawn to. Her lines are fluid yet thoughtfully articulated, almost like a great outfit that looks effortlessly fabulous. 

bits and pieces

Oof. Without Photoshop, it’s really hard for me to edit pictures of drawings without messing up colors and line work. So please just assume these look more delicate in person than they seem here.

patterns by Christina Kwan

Oh well, you get the gist at least! These are two patterns I’ve been messing with; shapes and lines just pour out without thought. To get these bits and pieces out is like a momentary cleanse.

patterns by Christina Kwan

Seemingly random, perhaps they represent thoughts or memories needing to be sorted out and categorized for me to make sense of them. I can’t really say definitively, but I do feel like they’re somehow weird little manifestations of internal currents – I guess really, all art is that.