April 14: Never-ending moss field!

Never-ending little moss tufts!
It's like a puffy field of dreams!

April 8: Night time and fire-flies.

Full repeat

I started creating this pattern last night by playing with watercolors. I had done these guys in greyscale first and then decided to color them in the computer.
I wanted to make something that had a glowing look and that was reminiscent of a field with fireflies, without actually drawing fireflies.


Detail

It's getting closer and closer to spring and I can't wait until it's nice enough to go outside and see some real flowers. It's funny. I draw foliage so frequently, yet it's been a long while since I've gotten to see greenery around my neighborhood! Soon, right?

We're working on a patterns project in the class I'm teaching. I am really excited about it. My students are geniuses and I'm totally looking forward to seeing what they make!
We went through a bunch of different types of patterns today in class and I taught them how to make damask patterns, toiles, radial patterns and chinoiseries! I'll have to try and keep up with them!

Venus Flytrap!

The sketch that started it all


Detail

I spent the whole weekend sketching and this Venus Flytrap is one of the sketches that I was really proud of. It's done with graphite and then colored in Photoshop. I was thinking this one should be pretty subtle since it's particularly line-heavy.

On Friday I was hanging out with a couple friends and one asked to see my sketchbook. I don't know about you, but it's really hard for me to actually let people look through my sketchbooks. Half of what I've got in there is embarrassing -- for various reasons... and the other half are notes that I'd rather not show to anyone. I tried (as politely as I could) to decline, and felt super awkward just sitting there, clutching it to myself, holding on to it for dear life. You know when you're practicing drawing and you draw the same thing over and over? Or when you're not sure what you're even sketching... just making lines all over a page? Well, my sketchbook is full of those things. That, and a zillion notes that I've written about everything I'm thinking, doing, or wanting to do. Sort of a diary, I suppose.

I am still trying to feel good about sharing my sketchbook with other people, but for now, I just show the pieces I think are ok online. The rest I'm keeping for myself.


Full Repeat

I'm also starting a 30 day challenge today for the Month of April! I have been wanting to do one for a while now, but haven't remembered to do so at the start of the month! This is my first one and I'm hoping to kick some fun things out this month. Wish me luck!

Vintage Flowers

I have this great old wallpaper book from the turn of the century that has this massive cabbage roses in just a couple colors. I had been looking through it last week for inspiration and came across this mustard and green color combination. I'm absolutely amazed at how beautiful vintage patterns are. It's apparent how much preparation and time went into creating them.

It's no wonder I'm a vintage paper addict.
Seriously. When I get on an ebay kick, there's no stopping me. In fact, that reminds me... I should really archive all of these ancient wallpaper books. That'll be my summer project.

I have been doing some complex patterns lately and decided that this week I'd do something a little more quiet. I created this one with ink on paper first, with a linen texture overlay on top -- and colored it up!

Creeping Charlie, the pattern.

Here's the mini view of this huge pattern I made tonight.

When I first got my cat, Oliver, I had named him several things before something stuck. Charlie was one of the names that was high on the list. Oliver is, by far, the creepin'-est of cats, and as I was making this pattern tonight I thought for a second that it would have been very fitting had I named him Charlie.

I don't know why I labored over this pattern so much tonight, but I'm glad I did because I really like the way it turned out. It started as a complex sketch and turned into a giant winding beast. I took some liberties with the actual colors of Creeping Charlie - and I'm surprised I did because I am usually all about putting purple all over my artwork. But there was something really sinister about having red veins for vines -- and so it goes.


Here's a little close-up of the artwork

I had a really great weekend. I got the chance to spend the weekend hanging out with Francesca (it was her birthday! Happy Birthday, Francesca!), and some great friends. Games were played, Japanese food was enjoyed, and I got some artwork done, too! I'm looking forward to my 32nd Birthday this coming Tuesday. (Yikes! I'm not sure how that happened! I barely remember turning 30, or even 20 for that matter.... hmmmm....) But I'm excited to see it come. I think I've got zen mode on this year (or at least I'm trying!) and I'm thinking of spending my Tuesday just relaxing.
Maybe ever devouring a good book.

It'll be the first day in a long while that I've actually taken a day off, but I think I'm going to do it!

Wish me luck! Another year, another adventure.

Keeping it simple : Succulents

Keeping it simple today!
I had a great trip to the Como Conservatory today with Chris and it was AWESOME! Man, I have been craving some living plant-action!
It's been so white outside and it seemed like a nice Sunday outing. I did a couple tiny drawings this morning while I was at this new coffee house near my house, Parka and just ran with them for this pattern.

I was making loads of little terrariums last summer and I was having flashbacks when I was making this pattern. I really ought to do that again. I think I just might!

I usually frown at white backgrounds on patterns but for some reason this one just felt right. I had this one a couple other colors before I finally just left it alone. So here you have it! Little tiny cuttings from some of my favorite succulents!

(I'm also channeling some 70s art vibe in here. Inspired by a pic I saw earlier today while I was in a used bookstore near my house!)

Ferns on Linen

I have been wanting some new kitchen towels and I made this linen-y pattern with them in mind. Ahhh I wish they were real!
I was inspired by two new shops in the Minneapolis area -- Forage and Parka. One is a really cute furniture shop that sells a lot of local and hand-crafted furniture (nice, mid-century inspired stuff!) and the other is a new cafe with awesome coffee. Both shops are minimalist and really nice -- lots of natural colors plus white.

I got the chance to sit down and really take a look at ferns with this pattern, too, which, if you haven't had a chance to look at one closely, are super crazy. They're amazing -- or as Chris would say "They're natures fractals".

The rest of the day was spent running around to Menards and getting some home fixer-uppering stuff, and talking for hours to my parents about big ideas and future plans.

My last week has been really interesting. Filled with lots of teaching at MCAD and preparation for Light Grey. This past friday I did a lecture on Happiness and Success at Light Grey to a room of about 20 people. It was really exciting talking to so many people about collaboration and committing to doing something that gets people involved. I talked about everything from the difference in our personalities and what stops us from doing the things we do, to more up-beat things like the idea of support and what it means to work altruistically. I had read so many interesting pieces of information on things like the non-zero sum theory, and 'the big five' elements of what makes up our 'subjective well being'... among other really interesting topics.

I thought a lot of about personalities and how they play a part in how we do things. Sometimes I think about the Meyers Briggs test and my obsession with personality tests -- and how that might come into play with how we get things done (or how we don't get things done).

I truly enjoy these times of 'research', and the times when I get to sit down for a second and learn something. I'm a huge non fiction fan and the more science, or history, or nature that I can take it, the more I enjoy what I'm doing.
We should be posting a link to the lecture online in the next day or so, and when we do, I'll make sure to post it here. I think some of you guys might get a kick out of it.

Tomato-red Clusters

Clusters of Guarana Berries

I was inspired by vintage wallpaper and a weekend trip to H&M. I think I've been seeing this tomato red color everywhere and I absolutely LOVE it. In fact, I tried to convince Chris to buy some pants this color. It's cheery and vibrant and I think it may be one of my new favorite colors.


And here's it repeated!

It's been interesting trying to fit everything in to my schedule these days. I'm gearing up for helping out at Light Grey Art Lab with a couple new shows this spring and I'm juggling teaching at MCAD. I'm half way into a 6 week class on Advanced Pattern Development for the continuing education program (which has been awesome and inspirational, by the way) and it's inspired me to try all these new ways to put together a repeat.

I've been thinking for a while now that I'd really like to publish a book on all of my pattern-making methods. Francesca and I have talked about it for at least 6 months now -- on and off -- fantasizing about a time when we'll have a free minute to put it together! The nice thing is that even though I'd need a chunk of time to design it, I'm gathering more and more content by teaching this advanced class! Many of the methods have been really eye opening and exciting.

The beginning of spring is always full of work, extra curricular activities and loads and loads of planning. I think it's me waking up from my long, dark hibernation during the winter months!



The sketch before repeating

Making Progress

Progress on the color so far! - Second layer of blues layered in

Ok, so I decided to go for something super complex this time - not really in the way that the pattern is made, but the technique that I'm using to paint it. I'm trying watercolor out for the first real time since high school and it's been... interesting.
I wanted to show you a little bit of what I'm working on though it isn't a repeating pattern quite yet.

I have plans for a Damask pattern -- as you can see I'm working on the diamond shape right now. I've set it up so it'll be fairly easy to repeat once I have the whole painting complete. I'll just have to tile it up and let it go!

It's been exciting. I've been making this while watching Discovery Channel documentaries on mount Everest (thrilling and terrifying!) and plugging away at it after I teach night class. I don't think I have much left to do, but once I get it finished up, I'll make sure to post it!

Just for fun you can see a little bit of my coloring process here!


First Layer of Blues


Preliminary Underpainting

So far I'm just using burnt umber and prussian blue (at least I think that's the blue I'm using!) to do all of the lighting and shadows. I've got this on hot press watercolor paper, too, which I usually just use for ink washes. It's been really interesting.
It looks pretty dark in the first photo (my most recent photo), but this morning I looked at it again and the color had faded a little. I'm not sure if it was just the lighting or the way the paint works!

I'm really looking forward to coloring it to look like an old hand-painted photograph. You know the one's I'm talking about? Sepia colored photos with a little bit of color? That's it!

Pointy Saguaro

Pointy!

This flower was a challenge for me - mostly because, as I was looking up the Saguaro cactus for reference, I saw that the blooms cluster in these bizarre families around the tops of the cacti. I liked the green blooms so much that I wanted them to be a major part of this pattern.

Here's a never ending field of Saguaro blossoms! (with a little pointy bit here and there!)

It was super late as I was finishing this up last night. I had run out of Pandora stations and started watching documentaries about North Korea. I'm not sure how that happened, but I now know a lot.

Thank you, National Geographic.

In any case, what was hardest about this pattern was trying to create an interesting repeat. Granted, what I did is not the most innovative, it was still a challenge trying to make this one look kind of natural without it looking like a polkadot! I think it turned out alright!

Vanilla Flowers, winding!

Tried something new tonight!

So - here's another new approach to pattern-making. I'm teaching an advanced pattern-making class at MCAD in a couple weeks and I've been trying all of these new ways of putting patterns together. It's been a blast trying to figure it out but it was definitely a challenge!

I tried a pattern with a couple layers this time - large foliage in the background, and smaller bits in the front. There are actually three layers that went into this and surprisingly, I started with some swirly vine things and went from there!

I had a great time making it - sorry for the huge size, but I had to make a tall one to make it work! Hopefully it just makes the detail easier to see.

What was interesting about this process was that I started out having to sketch the whole thing out before tossing it in the computer. This is certainly a new thing for me - as I usually just make a bunch of icons that are nice together and toss them. This time I had to puzzle piece the whole thing together before hand. It was actually really nice.

I am really interested in doing some HUGE patterns. I'm sure you may have noticed that there posts are taller! The more I get into these, the bigger they're getting, and the more room I need to make these complex things look good! I think I'll try some kind of damask pattern in one of my next patterns. I'd really like to see if I can make a new method for those, too!

Memories of old summer days

Hello again. I've been considering how to do this pattern all day and finally bit the bullet and committed to something a little more complex and more process intensive than some of my usual patterns. I have had a great time lately drawing in my sketchbook with graphite and carbon pencil and wanted to try something today involving that process.

Here's a Egyptian Lotus flower in a limited negative space pattern. I've seen other types of lotus flowers on my trips up north to my grandparents' cabin a couple times. I remember going on canoe trips with my dad early in the morning so we could catch a glimpse of the open lotus flowers before the mid-day sun made them close back up.

It's been a couple years since I've had that experience, and it may be many more years before I get that experience again. At least I remember it fondly.
***


Here's the original sketch before I added all of the shading and the coloring

It's freezing here now. I'm sure that anyone else that lives somewhere in the Midwest (or any place to the North) knows what I'm talking about. Some of these memories are possibly surfacing because I'm sitting here freezing my butt off.

I visited L.A. last week with Jenny and Francesca and though it was pretty nice down there in the 50s, I still found myself happy to come home to good ol' frigid Minneapolis.

It doesn't mean I don't pine for warmer days... Until then, I'll make due with wearing a million sweaters and cuddling with these cats.

Olive.

Close-up of the inked detail

I have been spending quite a bit of time working in my sketchbook these days. I spent my Friday night sketching away amongst a bunch of talented people. We worked through the night on our different projects and I found myself craving a little bit of hands-on art making rather than my purely digital process.

I did a pattern the 'good ol fashioned way' this time, where I inked each layer separately, then compiled them together in the computer and colored them.


The repeat tile

I'm really enjoying letting the inky brush strokes show on these and backed by a dark background you really see it.

This pattern is inspired by the olive flower. I really like the shape of the leaves more than anything, so I did something a little viney -- reminiscent of a wall paper pattern.


And here it is repeated

School just ended this week. Another semester is over and I'm feeling a little sad from it all. It's funny -- I've felt the same way every time another semester goes by. From the time I got out of school to now, it feels the same. I miss all of those people that I got close to over the semester. I won't get to see some of them until the new year, and some of them I may never get to see again for a long while -- or ever.

Waah, maybe it's the music I have on right now, or maybe it's because it's 3am and I'm finally posting this pattern before I head to bed, but whatever the case, I was just thinking about those guys. I had an amazing last day of class with everyone. I suppose nothing can last forever. I'll just be thankful I got to share the semester with everyone. It was a blast.

Piano music in the background

Inspired by raspberry flowers and little shoots

Recently I've really enjoyed making patterns that are a little more free-form than the normal rigid patterns I've done in the past. I think in the last year I've really liked the organic feeling patterns the best -- the ones that feel like they're floating in the wind, or the ones that look like they're drifting on top of the water.

This is a good example of what I mean. I wanted to make something quiet and understated, with some little guys that look like sprouts.

I've also been listening to a lot of piano music these days. It's comforting.
This pattern reminds me of that music...


And here it is repeated!

I woke up really late this morning - though it's not unusual for me to wake up late into the morning, today was ridiculous. The sun was still out (thank goodness) and I went for a walk in the snow. It was the first big snowfall of the season and though I'm not a huge fan of it most of the time, it made everything really quiet and serene.

I guess that mood carried over into the night for me, so here I am, continuing to listen to my comforting music and contemplating the winter ahead.

I've been writing and sketching a lot more than usual. It's liberating and meditative.
One of these days I'll try to get some of my sketches up on here. Until then they're safely tucked away in my sketchbook. Maybe I'll slip and post a bunch of them one of these days while I'm in one of my relaxed modes. :)

Marigolds Galore

I wanted to do something a little nested today, and a little sketchy.
Here's a vintage inspired pattern where there's little-to-no negative space.
It was nice doing things in line work and silhouettes!

I spent a little bit of time shopping for Christmas presents this afternoon on Ebay, where I inevitably end up looking at vintage wrapping and wallpaper. Today I was smitten with the bright papers of the 60s.

I'm on the ultimate hunt for all of the amazing things for my wonderful friends and my awesome family. I found the perfect gifts for some of them today. I'm sure there's someone out there that makes all of the other things I'm looking for. I'm really excited that I found some amazing things today that are made by other creative people.

I can't even explain how much I love the holidays. It's hard to narrow things down and I agonize over the little things. I am having a crazy good time.

That, and I got a chance to decorate part of the studio today! I bought a bunch of garlands and Chris and I put them up around the outside windows. I'll have to take some pictures of how the outside windows look!

Well, I'm off to try to find a couple more presents! Exciting!

Got some Gouache

This weekend I got the chance to head to the art store where I treated myself to some new gouache. It was super cheap, but it was definitely still fun to work with!
So, instead of taking the normal digital route, here is my gouache-painted floral pattern!

Want this pattern in my bathroom. 101florals: Tiger lily

I got to visit the Animal Humane society earlier today with Chris (one of my favorite places to visit, but one of the hardest places to leave!) and was excited to see that on our way in a couple was coming out with a new friend! There- we found a little nine-month-old siamese mix that looks just like our kitty, Jadey.

It took all of my will-power not to walk out with him! They would have made great friends! For those of you that are wondering why I couldn't bring myself to get another kitty -- it's because I definitely have my fair share of cats at home. And the dogs. -- Don't forget about those dogs.

Still, I fall in love with every single cat that I meet! Even the naughty ones!



I am really looking forward to a little bit of a slower week this week.
We have one class for CVA tomorrow - and another one for MCAD tomorrow night, but then Thanksgiving break starts. I'm a little surprised! It totally snuck up on me.

I'm thinking that while I have some time, I might just get a little personal art done. I was thinking of starting a couple new pieces. I'm not sure yet if they'll be digital or if I want to do some kind of traditional-media / digital hybrid.... or what.

I'm sure I'll figure it out! Oh yes. And - I still want to draw a million little cute pieces of food / creatures. That's what I get for playing Megu!

Today was a good day.

I'm really proud of myself today.

Chris and I took a early afternoon trip to Turtle Bread, got some breakfast and then headed down to the Science Museum of Saint Paul to look at the Ancient Egypt exhibit. It's funny - we've got this year-long pass to the Science Museum and we don't go as much as we should go.

This was the second day in a row I was over there -- yesterday I went with Chris to go see the late night showing of Tornado Alley, a great Omni theatre movie about tornado chasers. Man, I love science.

The rest of the day was spent making vats and vats of butternut squash soup from the 7 or 8 squashes we got from our CSA, and topping it off with some home made pumpkin pie.

I have a flower pattern to show again today - this one is the bauhinia blakeana - the flower that is on Hong Kong's flag. I had a sketch in my sketchbook that I finished up in photoshop. I'm really enjoying the white ground on this one.

Going back to normal.

This weekend was a long one and I am longing for a little simplicity.

We had a great time at the opening reception for the Tarot, Mystics and the Occult Show at Light Grey Art Lab. I absolutely had a blast with everyone there!
I have to admit that with all of the events this weekend (and -- for having spent most of my day doing billing) I am beat!

So, when I did my pattern tonight I was looking for something a little simpler. Something graphic and bold. What I ended up with was something a little Marimekko-ey, which I love!

And with that, I'm headed to bed! Good night, everyone! I've got quite a week ahead of me!

On a white ground

I wanted to do something a little simple this time - something with a white ground.
This time it's a mixture of flowers with a tiny bit of texture.

I was thinking about blind contour drawings tonight and how interesting things look when you allow shapes to connect. So, there you have it! These flowers look as if they were made with a piece of spaghetti -- one continuous line.

Well, besides that, I finally booked my trip to Iceland for next year. I got the cheapest tickets imaginable. I'll be counting the days down til I get to spend two weeks adventuring. I'm really excited to see some of the crazy things I have been searching for. After going there a couple years ago and loving it, I am ready to go back. It's been a fantasy of mine to go there for a month to do an artist residency, but, with everything going on, it might just stay that way : a fantasy.

If you've never looked at any photos of Iceland before, I strongly encourage you to do so. Some of the things that happen on that land are so intense and so serene at the same time. It really is a magical land.