Recently I wanted to listen to something while working, so I navigated my way to CreativeLive to see if anything interesting was being broadcasted (which is a typical habit of mine). I stumbled upon Bonnie Christine’s workshop Design Surface Patterns From Scratch and within 5 minutes purchased the course because this chick knew what she was talking about, and was teaching things that I hadn’t learned in school. Considering that I just finished up my graphic design degree, I knew this course was right up my alley. The more I watched, the more excited I was at the possibility of designing patterns in my spare time, and that I could actually start designing something from stemmed my own passions.
As a result, I joined the students on Facebook in a couple of groups created by Bonnie (one being the Roost Tribe which is membership based), and saw Bonnie’s message about doing this whole Blog Tour thing. The Blog Tour goes from one person to the next, and the topic is all centered around Surface Pattern Design. Yesterday the tour stopped at Sofia Cardoso’s site, and tomorrow it will be over at Rochelle New’s site. And if you want to see more, you can always refer to the list of those participating on Bonnie’s website. (Oh, and Bonnie’s been ever so generous to give a free month of the Roost Tribe! Check it out by clicking the image below).
So, by participating in the Blog Tour I’ve had to really concentrate and focus on completing some finished designs, which hasn’t been the easiest thing ever. Considering, that professional pattern designers take more time to sketch and create, I figure that I’ve done pretty well to come up with what I have. I wanted to share a little about my process, as well as what I’ve created thus far.
I started by taking some of my photographs that I love and turning them into color inspiration palettes. I really loved this part of the process, because I have a gazillion photos just waiting on my external drive for something to do beyond just being buried in my digital archives.
From there I used various photographs for inspiration and started using the blob brush in illustrator. I hadn’t used the blob brush much in the past, so it was great to use a new technique. And, not to mention, I love the unique hand drawn effect that the blob brush gives.
I was able to get a few patterns made, but wasn’t too thrilled with the first ones that I completed, so I pressed on until I came up with something that was more of what I was going for. I still have some work to do, but feel pretty great about where I am with it all.
I hope to be able to share more of my designs in the future, and possibly turn this into a monthly feature on my blog. After all, I still have a few new techniques left to try and would like to gain some more confidence in my work. Thanks again for stopping by!
If you’d like to follow Bonnie you can find her at the following links:
You can connect with Bonnie here:
Blog:http://www.goinghometoroost.com/
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/goinghometoroost
Twitter:https://twitter.com/gohometoroost
Instagram:http://instagram.com/goinghometoroost
Don’t you just love CreativeLive? I find myself turning it on all the time now to listen to all kinds of interesting classes that I wouldn’t have thought I would like. Bonnie’s class was one of the best ones yet I think.
Your designs are wonderful & I just love the color palette!
Yes! I’m a CreativeLive junkie…haha. I’ve found so much goodness there and that they air it for free, just boggles my mind. Bonnie’s teaching style is perfect for me, as well, as she is really easy to listen to and she keeps my attention.
Thank you so much for your kind words.
I love your flowers! And the birds… all of it :) The colors you used in the flowers with the pitcher are so different. Very warm and soothing :)
Aw, thanks Sheila! Warm and soothing was exactly what I was going for. Your comments have given me a lot of encouragement to keep on with this, so I’m very thankful to you!
I love to listen to CL while I sketch too! Although I too get sucked in, lol. It was a great class. Love your sketches above. Pretty. I made a’wild’ one, never got a while collection though.
I know what you mean about getting sucked in, because that happens for me sometimes, too! But if it’s a course like Bonnie’s I don’t mind so much, because she taught me so much. Thank you and hopefully you can keep working on your collection, too. I’m going to share more of what I’ve been working on toward the end of the month.
I really love your color palettes a lot. So many people do the bright, bright florals (which are nice, of course) but I love that you chose moody, deeper colors. Really pretty. Especially for Fall :)
Aw, thanks Rochelle! I was hesitant with choosing them because I do often see the bright colors, but it’s good to try something that’s different from the rest of the pack. Thanks for letting me know, because it definitely gives me confidence!