watercolor – tide & bloom

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.

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?

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.

out the window

spring mums

surfacing

emily green designs

I’m totally feelin’ on these psychedelic designs by Melbourne based artist Emily Green. Watercolor patterns are all the rage these days, but hers seem especially fresh, straightforward with a lovely clarity of color and shape.

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.

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.

pinspired: patterns

In case you couldn’t tell already, I love patterns. I love looking at patterns, figuring out patterns, creating patterns. I only wish I had more reasons/time/media to make patterns for! Here are some of my favorites from my pattern Pinterest board.

floral

geometric

abstract

fruit

To see more of my beloved Pinterest addictions, be sure to follow me!

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.

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.

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.