One of the things I decided to do to keep myself busy this fall is take a
class. I chose an online textile design class and so far it's been
really good. Our first set of assignments dealt with creating black and
white designs. First we had to come up with a concept page. This was
basically a page of images that inspired our design process. We were
also allowed to make a Pinterest board. So, of course, being me, I did
both.
Pinterest board
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| my concept page |
As you can see, my main inspiration was wrought iron. I liked how this
combined both a delicate and graphic look often achieved in black and
white designs. I also used nature inspired images, and lace. From this
concept page, we had to come up with at least 5 motifs. For some reason
in my head, I thought these had to be square, so this is what I came up
with.
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| my motifs |
Of course, I had to edit these when it came to designing the prints.
There is only so much you can do with squares. We had to submit as the
final project five different layouts: a basic set design ( think tiles) a
half drop design ( tiles that are offset instead of perfectly lined up)
a tossed design (basically exactly what it sounds like, you, "toss"
your motifs somewhat randomly on the page), a border with a field (
design that has a border) and a stripe layout.
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| basic set design |
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| half drop design |
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| tossed non-directional design |
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| border with a field design |
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| stripe layout |
I was actually pretty pleased with the result. Designing patterns is so
much fun! I'm also learning a lot about Photoshop that will come in
handy for my own work.
I definitely would recommend taking a textile design class. I find
taking classes outside my field really inspires my work within my own
field, and helps get the creative juices flowing. You come up with more
ideas just because you are learning to think differently!
I've been working slowly but surely on calendar 2014 (updates and
calendars following soon!), and some other commissioned projects that I
can't post now, but will as soon as they are in the hands of the
rightful owner. I'm also trying to start participating in Illustration
Friday again, so be on the lookout for those posts too!
