well hello there!

I've been missing for a bit, haven't I?

Here's a little peek into something I've been working on.
More soon ... I promise.

Autmn Leaves

My forest has entered autumn. Now with the spring leaves and autumn leaves, I need to work on sizing. Currently this would come in at 48" wide. I'm certain they don't need to be any larger. Should they be smaller? Let me know what you think.

Click on the image for a larger view.

A Real Forest

I've worked on the trees. That star pattern previously posted just wasn't doing anything for me. Here's a new one. I am happy with this pattern. I need to try a few different sizes to see which works best. I've chosen fairly natural colors ... brown for the trunk, green for the leaves. Maybe I should try autumn colors? Have two different color-ways. Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear from you.

Click on the image for a larger view.

See the Forest

Here's a pattern from the tree in the previous post. The actual size is 12" square. So, that means each tree "star" is nearly 3 1/2" square.

What do you think? Would this work as curtains, a sun dress, pillow covers, a skirt, slip cover, etc.?

Click on the image for a larger view.

Make Like a Tree and Leave(s)

I am taking a short break from my leaves. I haven't been able to make the repeat work, so I'm stepping away for a moment. But, before I do, what do you think of the yellow? I love yellow. It's so happy and cheery. I would like to see this as yellow curtains for a bedroom (or any room). What better way to wake up (this coming from someone who is not a morning person!)?



So, in the meantime, I'm going to shift my focus to another pattern I've started. Here's the new one ... what do you think?Have a happy Tuesday!

Tricky Repeats

In my attempts to repeat this pattern, it revealed it's flaws to me. I don't recall where I saw it, but I remember a tutorial about tiling patterns. (assuming I remember it correctly) You divide the pattern into quarters and switch the top right with the lower left, and top left with lower right. This then allows the outer edges to align properly when printing. Kind of like turning something inside-out.

I can't get it to line up! So, now I either start over or try to find what's causing the flaw.

Click on the image for an enlarged view.

Now if only I can find that tutorial ... Any suggestions?

CORRECTION: I found the tutorial. And it's by, none other than, Julia Rothman on Design Sponge. I bookmarked it (Thank you Delicious!) and there it was, waiting for me to rediscover it!

Patterns

I've now made the leaves white on a green background with a teal outline. This could be nice in many different colors with the white leaves. I still don't quite have how the pattern would repeat, but I'm sure I'll figure it out.

What do you think?


Click on the image for a larger view.

The Leaves are Becoming

I'm excited about these leaves.

Here is the next iteration of my leaf pattern. I chose a lime-green color to start but imagine it could be done in a variety of colors. One step at a time, though, right? If you click on the image you can see a larger version.

Tell me what you think. Would you make a sofa pillow with this? Any advice on making this a successful repeat pattern for screen printing?


Another pattern is already in the works. But more on that later.

Surface Design, step 2

This post is a continuation from my exploration blog, Dreamy Abstraction. Since this relates to surface and pattern design, I decided to post "part 2" here.

Here are two versions using two leaf sketches. They are essentially mirror images of each other, but are separate drawings. I scanned, clipped, and placed them in two different repeat patterns. These are rough sketches.

I feel like I need something unpredictable in the pattern. What do you think? Should I vary the mirrored images more? Does it need something else. I think so, but I'm not sure what.

v.1

v.2

Please send me your suggestions in the comments.