Antique Stuff

Once you learn how to clip out images in Photoshop and then create repeats, all you need is time.

This is a jpg of a hi res repeat I did a while back.

Appears I've got the know how AND plenty of time.

The Marriage of Vector and Raster

Sometimes I'll come across the most gorgeous vintage print of flowers, and it's a high res enough jpg to clip and use in a design. But design what?

The first answer for me is to make a repeat. That's easy since I've got my super cool secret way of making a PERFECT repeat with a raster image.

I've also been creating a library of vector grunge/distress repeats, and when you layer them all together, you get something like this below. Well, at least I get something like this. I know it's not quite right, but I'm slowly but surely cracking this tough nut.

Abundance

I got out early this morning, the day before Thanksgiving day, to shop.  Along with my usual weekly groceries, I bought the extra ingredients for what I'd be making and taking to a family gathering.

While pulling it all out of the bags when I got home, the beauty of the abundance was powerful.  I felt joy at the site of the humble items: organic pears, a can of pumpkin, a bag of Pepperidge Farm stuffing, packages of yeast, Trader Joe's soy creamer ... and all the other myriad fruits, vegetables and grains that sustain me or treat me to something special.

I felt grateful, but not just this morning. Whether or not I "feel" it, I still say it many times daily, "Thank you."

Learning New Skills Can Be Fun

When I first started creating patterns and cracked the code for the perfect repeat, I thought that these patterns would be my ticket to making a living.

Wrong.

But as I have striven to pay my bills as a  graphic designer, I've had the good fortune to learn a ton of new skills on the job.

One of these skills came rather recently when I started designing for Needlepaint.com. This entails designing a pillow, Christmas stocking, or belt that I then convert into a grid for a needlepoint canvas.

It is basically pixel art, which harkens back to the early days of video games.

I kinda love this conversion of a design into a grid and even find it addictive.

Below is a photo of a fox that I made a simple vector drawing of. Below that is the pixelated version, with one pixel equaling a stitch.

Below that is an enlarged view.

Huh. Who knew?

I Did it Again - Scandinavian Part 2

After my morning run, shower, and fruit smoothie, I sit down at my computer and start my work day.

If I don't have a specific job, I hunt through my many inspiration images to help me decide what to design next.

Well, darn it, if today I wasn't inspired by Scandinavian design again. And this after I vowed to create something sell-able.

Oh, if only Scandinavian would become the next big trend!

Resurrecting Forgotten Patterns

What good is that pretty dress doing you in the back of the closet? Get the thing out and wear it!

Same goes for patterns in your library. With me designing new patterns ALL THE TIME, adding to the hundreds and hundreds I already have, it pays to rummage through the old ones, find  the neglected, dust 'em off, and switch out the colors.

Maybe with the new coat of paint, and a new upload with my agent, it will sell!

Retro Icon Art

It's very trendy now, or rather WAS trendy a bit ago, creating images of retro items. As with most things it doesn't take long for us designer/artists to see something and then want to try our hand at it.

This was my take on the style, done a year ago.

It's very cool, if I do say so myself.