Pattern Design Simplified
rsvMany artists love painting faces, but I feel drawn to patterns. It must be the little engineer inside me who, after seeing almost anything, needs to know: could this be simplified and repeated?
Don’t get me wrong: I am not a big fan of over simplifying everything. Living in a country of snow and white box like houses with white sofas, I have had more than enough of simple forms. But when simplifying involves some clever thinking, hundreds of ideas have been created instead of one.
Namely, you can tweak and change simple structures almost endlessly.
It is like an engineer has made the skeleton which an artist can decorate.
Designing a Hand-Drawn Pattern
The paper above began when the engineer in me found a scanned image of a handpainted paper. The circle pattern was printed on it. Then it was given to the artistic side of me which went a little crazy.
The pattern that the engineer had created was dull but the artist made it breathe. The result was analyzed carefully and a new surface pattern was born! This design is simple but fun, perfect for the use in collages or even for making cards or gift papers.
Creating Variations
I also made another version of the same design. Creating variations and studying various color combos is so fun! I always decide to make just a simple paper but end up adding smaller and smaller details!
When decorating these papers I never know beforehand whether I will cut them to pieces for collages or frame them as they are. But I always scan them once they are finished so that I can use them again if I want to.
Instructions for the Hand-Drawn Pattern
I have written detailed step by step instructions for the pattern which I call Spring Flowers.
>> Download PDF
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Bursting Circle – Self-Expression Exercise
Here’s my interpretation of the creative self-expression exercise called Bursting Circle. It might sound too simple or a bit mechanic, but it can be used as a framework for self-expression: how am I today, how am I feeling?
Do the Self-Expression Exercise – Create Your Bursting Circle!
1) Pick a paper or a page of your art journal.
2) Draw freely a circle on a random area of the paper or the page.
3) Fill the circle with whatever you can think of: shapes, colors, anything. You can also use collage pieces.
4) Divide the paper by drawing a horizontal or vertical line.
5) Color each side of the line differently.
6) Imagine that the circle begins to leak or burst – how would you illustrate that?
Analyze After Creating!
Is your circle big or small?
What does it contain?
Is it located left or right?
Is it on the surface or under the surface?
Is it inside or outside?
Is it clearly shaped or is it merging into the background?
Does it burst, spill or radiate?
Is there any movement or does it stay still?
and so on …
Do not analyze the image before you are finished. There’s no one interpretation, but you can consider yourself as a circle and start from there. The part of the exercise is to get in touch with your own thoughts.
My painting tells me this: I feel more exposed than many times before. It is a good thing and it might even be a beginning of a life change. I might not be able to control it, but I feel I have a lot of decisions in my hands. I want to impact others, but I am also impacted at the same time. Maybe there’s a network where I am heading.
What does your picture tell you?
Another Version of Bursting Circle
I made this using watercolors, markers and color pencils. When looking at this, I wonder: Is there too much going on in my life at the moment? Well, it might be so but if I need to choose between too much and too little I always pick too much!
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What Art Supplies Do I Need?
One of the most popular questions that I get is: What art supplies do I need? What brands to buy? Here are my favourite principals in purchasing art supplies and the products that I most often buy.
Use What You have
My first advice would be: before investing a lot of money use the stuff that you already have as long as you can. Creating art should not create more chaos and clutter. It should make you feel more content with your life. If you need to buy something, buy quality. That sends you the message that you value what you do. And you get better intensity of colors and most out of the various techniques.
Background Papers
If you make collages like I mostly do, most of your papers should be fairly thin. It is easier to cut and paste thin pieces of paper. The background that you are using can be canvas, watercolor paper, cardboard or any thicker surface. I often use acid-free Canson Drawing paper (thickness 120 g/m2, 80 lbs). And my favourite background paper is Fabriano cold pressed fine grain watercolour paper (thickness 200 g/m2, 90 lbs).
Journals
I also recommend that you buy a sketch book and make it your art journal. You can use a journal page as a background or glue or tape the background paper to the page. With the journal your creativity and self-acceptance grows page by page. Constantly getting back into what you have created enforces your style and makes you love what you do. I like the size of the bigger Dylusions Creative Journal. I also love Moleskine books and Smash books.
Colors – You Can Mix Them!
I want to give general advice on colors first before digging deeper into various qualities and brands. If you have a fixed budget, use your money on quality instead of quantity. With three primary colors, yellow, red and blue, you create a pretty wide range of other colors and hues. If you only afford one, buy yellow. If you only afford two, buy yellow and red or blue considering which one you like more.
If you can afford five, buy white, black, red, blue and yellow. With that amount, you’ll survive a long time. When you mix black with the primary colors, you get beautiful melancholic muted shades. And with white, more cheerful pastels. If you can buy some more, buy another set of primary colors just different hues. If you have warm and cold yellows, reds and blues plus black and white, you can create a huge colour palette.
Watercolors
I love using watercolours and combining them with other materials like colour pencils. My watercolor set is an old Windsor & Newton set (pretty similar to this one). I have complemented that with some new White Nights pans. I love the quality of White Nights watercolors and recommend it for those who hate watercolor painting just because they use pans that do give the intensity needed. I also have gouache tubes but no not use them often. I love my little pans! For those who really want great pigments and less opacity, I would highly recommend Schminke gouache paints or watercolors in tubes.
Acrylic Paints
I know many people that hate acrylic paints. The reason is usually that they have poor quality paints that they try to use like watercolors. Low-quality acrylic paints have poor intensity and gloss and coarse structure instead of smooth. While watercolors represent everything light weighted, acrylic paints are heavy and strong. Better than mixing them with plenty of water is to use little water or gel mediums (introduced later in this post).
My favorite brand in acrylics is Golden. They have affordable introductory sets that I highly recommend. Use very small amounts of color at a time. The color pigments are great, and the set will last for a long time. If you find it hard to squeeze small amounts and tend to use a lot of acrylic paints, Amsterdam has big economic tubes of acrylics in their standard series.
Gel Medium
I use gel medium to glue the pieces of my paper collages. I also use it with acrylic paints to give them more elasticity. For me, gel medium is a must have. I have tried several brands and spent plenty of time to find what I like most. My favourite is Golden Soft Gel Gloss. I also like the matte version of it.
Brushes
After preaching about quality over quantity I must admit that I do prefer to have a lot of brushes. And many of them are low-quality cheap brushes. I have come to this situation for two reasons. First, in the heat of creating I often forget to put the brush into the water and it gets ruined. Second, the more you vary the size and quality of the brush the more interesting your artwork will look like. So when buying your first brushes, buy a set that has both flat and round brushes in various sizes.
Colored Pencils
Colored pencils have come a long way since I was a child. They used to be hard and many times they tore the paper when trying to get something out of them. Nowadays there are wonderful colour pencils that everybody should use, including children! Caran d’Ache Pablo pencils have wax-like finish; I adore them! I also love Derwent Colorsoft and Derwent Inktense pencils. Inktense pencils are water soluble, and you can use them instead of watercolors in small areas.
Markers
Some people prefer markers over colour pencils because markers are easier to use. I use both. I often combine them so that some layers or areas are colored with markers, some with color pencils. My ultimate favorite is Faber-Castell PITT Artist Brush Pen. They can be used on almost any surface. They can be bought in small sets or separately so you can acquire only a few ones first. I also have a collection of Copic markers. They are high quality and serve me well as they can be filled again and again. But if you start small, get few PITT pens, and you will be happy.
Bright White
If you have followed me, you know that I do not make white art. I do not create white areas or spend a great deal of time creating romantic scenes like putting off-white tulips on a white background. But having something bright white is essential for me. I love to put some white spots and then color them with markers or paints. That makes colors shine! I take my bright whites very seriously and have spent too much money to find the ones that work for me.
In gel pens, Uniball Signo is my favorite. I also use correction pens and Copic’s Opaque White that comes in small jars. You can replace these with white acrylic paint using a thin brush, so nothing to worry if you do not purchase any of these.
So – What Art Supplies Do I Really Need?
If you have read this far, it might feel like you need plenty. But really, you only need some pens and paper to get started.
Few pans of watercolors, maybe a couple of color pencils or PITT markers and you are good to go. Supplies do not make you an artist. The constant practice does.
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Get Inspired by Fine Arts
The world of fine arts is bursting with ideas that you can use in art journaling or any crafts. On the left, there is Emile Vernon’s painting Elegant Lady with a Bouquet of Roses. On the right, you can see my interpretation.
The secret is not to copy but find the concept of the painting and transfer it to your personal style. I began with the dominant factor of the painting which was the beautiful dress. Then I added the various details of the painting in my style. Almost weightless objects and angular lines combined with soft shapes create the atmosphere for both of the work. Because I love surface patterns I wanted to study the painting as a pattern too. I must admit I love the result. It represents the kind of nostalgia that I find very appealing.
Another painting to go. I chose Claude Monet’s Impression Sunrise.
Here I kept the theme of the painting but used torn paper pieces to represent the thick brush strokes. The sun was the most interesting detail, so I made many of them. A horizontal composition combined with vertical lines was also repeated. I copied many of the concepts but not the exact painting.
How to Do It?
1) Take your favorite painting and analyze it to pieces. What is the composition, the colors and their relations, the eye-catching details?
2) Reconstruct the pieces and add some of the things that reflect your personal style.
After this exercise, you’ll never complain about the lack of ideas! The whole world of fine art is waiting for you.
Get Inspired and Express Your Inspiration!
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