Learning to Create Repeating Patterns

     

What do you do when you’ve paid a lot of money to do an online design course that you love the sound of, then shelled out even more money on a computer with loads of capacity for your large images and a good quality monitor with a wide screen . . . and then you discover, days before the course is due to begin, that looking at the new monitor makes you feel quite ill?

If you’re anything like me, you PANIC! Which is exactly what I did.

And even after I’d used my faithful old laptop to search the net for solutions, and found that this is a really common problem, I was still faced with the conundrum: how can I adjust the monitor’s settings if just looking at the screen in its present state gives me a bad headache and makes me feel nauseous and dizzy? All my best laid plans, such as getting ahead with work to make time for the course, seemed to be in tatters!

But I’m pleased to say that, after taking the only route open to me – putting up with feeling ill for a short time while I adjusted the brightness settings down from 100% to 16% - things are much improved and I can’t wait for next Monday when the course begins!

     

It has made me think though, once again, about viewing art, craft  and design work and photographs – and anything where the colour matters - on the web. Given that monitor settings will vary, is it a good way to get a true picture? I still haven’t managed to get the saturation right on my new monitor – my profile photo (in the RH sidebar) looks as if I’ve spent far too long in the sun, whereas on my laptop it looks 'normal and on my old pc, a tad pale! Likewise, my designs are also too bright, to the point of garish, even after making all the adjustments possible.

So how do I know how they look to other people? The truth is, I don’t, and that’s something I’m not too happy about.

But I am getting excited about the course.

Do What You Love For Life

The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design

It’s what I wanted to do more than 20 years ago but it didn’t fit with my life at the time.

Ever since Zazzle introduced Messenger Bags a few months ago, my interest in creating repeating patterns has been re-awakened and in various blog posts, I’ve expressed my frustration that I don’t know how to do that ‘properly’. Hopefully, the course will at least teach me to do that!

And I also hope that I will look back on the dozen or so repeating pattern designs that I’ve created the hard way this year and see how I could have made them much, much better!

   

I don't know how much time I'll have for blogging but I’ll keep you all posted as much as I can . . . .

PS - just as I was about to publish this post, an email arrived about the course, telling me that the 'virtual classroom' is now open! I've had a quick look and I've joined the flickr group and introduced myself but there is a lot to read and digest. 

So, as Captain Oates is purported to have said, 'I may be gone some time . . . '

Are Introverts more Creative?

I knew nothing whatsoever about the Chinese Zodiac until I started making greeting cards for the Chinese New Year.

As a ‘goat’, according to the Chinese zodiac, I was surprised to discover that quite a lot of the characteristics actually describe me quite accurately – and yes, I am even prepared to admit a bit of to pouting when I don’t get my way!

Chinese Zodiac - 'Goat' Characteristics

I’m a Gemini according to the ‘modern’ zodiac and it seems a bit strange that I’m not a Capricorn, as that is the Sign of the Goat. However, if you compare the descriptions of the ‘goat people’ in the two zodiacs, they are not very similar.

Greek Zodiac - 'Capricorn' Characteristics

Zodiac Capricorn Goat Keychain by helikettle

So is there any truth behind these categorisations?

I’ve always been rather sceptical, though sometimes the descriptions do seem to fit people with uncanny accuracy! I actually pay much more attention to the personality profiles that come from taking the Myers Briggs personality type test.

You can discover your Personality Type

HERE

As well as appearing to be very accurate – though, as with the zodiac descriptions, that could be pure chance – I am persuaded of their validity by the fact that they are based on input from the person taking the test, rather than on external factors such as the position of the planets or the date of birth.

I find it useful to know the Personality Type of my friends and family. It helps me to understand when they seem to be behaving in ways that to me seem odd – for instance, a ‘J’ might find it really irritating that a ‘P’ doesn’t keep to a pre-arranged plan, whereas a ‘P’ might feel that a ‘J’ is making a fuss about it, preferring to ‘play things by ear’, rather than being ‘hemmed in’ by a plan.

The biggest and probably most important difference is that between an Extravert and an Introvert.

Author, Susan Cain, has carried out very thorough research into this difference and how Western society’s emphasis on Extraversion overlooks the benefits of Introversion and the valuable contribution that Introverts can make - if they get the chance in a world seemingly full of Extraverts!

She explains all this very well in her TED talk and in even more detail in her book, ‘Quiet - The Power of  Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking’, including the link to creativity.

I’m finding the book fascinating! My only quibble is that, in the book and also in her talk, she seems to conflate introversion and shyness, aren’t really the same thing, as she herself points out, although they may overlap. For instance, I am a ‘sociable introvert’ but I have a friend who is a ‘shy extravert’.

If you have 20 mins to spare, do watch this video – there’s stuff to learn, laced with humour, whether you are an Introvert or and Extravert and what she says about the link between Introversion and Creativity surprised me!

Susan Cain - TED talk 'The Power of Introverts'

In fact I am an INFJ and quite a large proportion of my friends and one of my daughters are INFJs too, even though there are apparently not all that many of us around!

I’d love to connect with other INFJs – if that doesn’t seem like a contradiction in terms!

Myers Brigg Personality Type Test

And just for fun, take a look at this Pinterest board!



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A Tale of Two Goats

It’s been a while since I painted anything but flowers. 

And with the next Chinese Year of the Goat as far off as 2015, you may wonder why I’ve been drawing and painting goats. The reason is that I am getting into practice!

Some months ago, back in the Spring, I was contacted through facebook and invited to contribute an illustration to a book of Welsh Nursery Rhymes to be published next year to raise funds for the St David’s Day festivities in Los Angeles. I didn’t know that there were specifically Welsh Nursery Rhymes and I had no idea that St David’s Day was celebrated in Los Angeles. It seems that the Patron Saint of Wales enjoys far more attention abroad than here at home in Wales!

I’ve never seriously done any illustration work before but it’s something I’m very interested in, so I didn’t hum and hah for long before I agreed to have a go.

But what has this to do with goats?  

I was sent 14 Welsh Nursery Rhymes to choose from and although I’d have happily given any of them my best shot, it had to be the rhyme about four goats. You see, goats and I have history!

Last week I posted a photo of our family home in the ‘70s. It was a large house on a much bigger plot of land than we'd ever had before. We moved into the house in the February and began the inevitable process of putting my stamp on it through alterations and new decorations.

We were so engrossed by the newly emerging inside of the house that it was early summer by the time that we noticed that Nature had been busy on the outside! Suddenly, it seemed, we had bought a field of waist-high grass and cow parsley.

‘Get a goat!’ advised friends and we thought they were joking. But by the end of the summer, as we battled unsuccessfully to tame our wilderness, we decided that maybe it was the best thing to do.

So we found a gentle-looking Toggenburg goat for sale and the owners agreed to keep it for us until we returned from our holiday. Unfortunately, when we arrived back two weeks later, they had sold the goat to someone else and my eight-year-old daughter was devastated!

The only goats advertised in our local paper were two sisters, Tina and Petula. I thought from the start that they looked rather belligerent and their legs looked long, suggesting that they might be fast runners. And these two had horns! But we managed to get them home in the back of our car, with some rather strange looks from passers-by whenever we stopped at traffic lights!

Tina and Petula polished off all the greenery in our garden in a couple of weeks and thereafter we had to buy food for them – not what we had in mind! They practically demolished the elderly shed where they were kept at night and they chewed through their tethering ropes on a daily basis, resulting in phonecalls from our neighbours to tell us that our goats were ‘dancing’ on their well-manicured lawn!

If they didn’t go next door, they led me a dance around our orchard. They would allow me to creep up on them to catch them, staring at me with their creepy, horizontal-slit eyes. Then, just as I was about to reach out for their collar, off they would prance – and I was right, those long legs did take them well out of my reach!

My daughter was far better at handling them than I was but she had to go to school so then it was up to me and it wasn’t what I thought I’d signed up to! But I was the only one who managed to milk them, though my one attempt resulted in about a quarter of a pint of milk and Petula’s foot in the bucket!

 So you see, I feel I ‘know’ goats! And I’ll enjoy working on the goat nursery rhyme. I’ve suddenly realised that the deadline, Dec 1st, isn’t as far off as it was and with my Surface Pattern Design course beginning in less than three weeks’ time, I need to make a start on it! 

The 'Year of the Goat' greeting cards and all these little 'back-of-the envelope' doodles are just a ‘warm-up’! I'll post again as the illustration begins to take shape.

Ironically,  I've discovered that, according to the Chinese Zodiac, I'm a 'goat'!

You can read about the character traits of the 'goat'  HERE  

Any more goats out there?

Collage Flowers . . . with a Hint of Hippy!

my kitchen in the '70s

I’ll begin by getting a confession out of the way!

I was born in the ‘40s so I was an undergraduate in the Sixties and I can remember exactly where I was when I first heard about the emergence of a new ‘group’ with outlandish haircuts and an exciting new sound -  the Beatles.

I loved the Sixties but – and here’s something else I don’t usually admit to – I absolutely adored the Seventies! The fashions that we now make fun of, the music – much of which has stood the test of time, Women’s Lib and above all the colour – it was all so vibrant and liberating after the drabness of the Forties and the rather staid, 'comfortable' Fifties!

Needless to say, I think everything has gone downhill ever since.

But on the other hand, I keep coming across revivals of the ‘hippy’ style and think to myself, how could we have lived surrounded by all that frantic pattern, coloured as if by some maniac, hell-bent on using every single hue in their paintbox! And yet we did and it was wonderful – at the time.

My own modern ‘flower-power’ designs are a little more restrained while, I hope, still capturing something of the essence of that era.

Here’s a collage birthday card I named ‘Birthday Fizz’ because it seemed to have an effervescent quality about it.

I’ve recently found out how to take a section of a design and ‘tile’ it in paint.net – the wonders of the internet! So this is a really multi-purpose design that is well and truly earning its keep!

Floral Purple Aqua Pink Orange MacBook Pro Sleeve by helikettle
 

It’s fun to be able to experiment with different background colours and although I don’t like some of them, one thing I’ve learned is that ‘there’s no accounting for taste’!

Flower Power Purple, Aqua Pink Orange Necktie by helikettle

Flower Power Black Pink Orange Messenger Bag by helikettle

I’ll be using this design to create about one hundred products during the course of this week. Hopefully, if the new Zazzle ‘grouping’ is working properly, you can explore them as I add more by clicking HERE

I made this one a few days ago and it took a long time to cut out and stick on all those petals.

But when I’d finished, I wasn’t sure that I needed all those little flowers and luckily, thanks to being able to edit on the computer, I was able to create various versions without losing the original.

I think I know which one I will actually use – what do you think?

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Summer at last - and a big decision!

Suddenly we have something a lot more like summer weather – dry and sunny but with quite a stiff breeze to keep us from overheating. 

The schools broke up last Thursday and it is so unusual for the weather to change for the better once the children are at home – it’s usually the exact opposite!

I heard that the birds are getting confused by the weather and migrating at the wrong times and something quite bizarre is certainly going on with one of my little apple trees –

It’s hard to see but yes, that is blossom up at the top, on the right and apples down near the bottom, all on the same tree!

I’ve been working on that rose and lavender design, making it into a repeating pattern, trying not to get frustrated with my laptop running out of memory and placing the design elements as accurately as I can by eye.

Nostalgic Scents of Summer Pattern Throw Pillow by helikettle
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But on Saturday, I heard about some so-called ‘improvements’ that Zazzle are making to the site, which most people seem to think will be disastrous for sales!

Products seemed to have gone missing from our stores - I clicked on the 'Tote Bags' button only to find that there were 'no products found' in spite of knowing that I had created more than fifty tote bags!

I was quite overcome by a feeling of 'powerlessness' in respect of the various Print-on-demand websites I sell through. During this past year, each one of the four main sites I use has made changes that have adversely affected the artists and there’s not a thing we can do about it.

I read on the forum about an artist ‘leaving her computer in tears’. I felt a bit the same way but instead, I went out and mowed the lawn and took out my exasperation on the edges with the shears! I should really have been working on my designs -  putting the 'greetings' on the Roses and Lavender card above! - but it was the first of the beautiful summer’s afternoons and it would have been a shame to stay indoors.

I often do my most constructive thinking whilst trimming the edges of the lawn!

And as a result of my pondering, on Sunday morning I did a google search for online surface pattern courses as the products that Zazzle have launched this year – cushions, bags, sleeves etc, have reawakened my love of surface pattern design.

Scents of Summer Pattern Messenger Bag by helikettle

I was completely amazed when a UK-based course came up straight away and it looks like just what I need!

Here it is -

Do What You Love

The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design

So - (deep breath!) - although it will involve expenses that I don't really want to think about, I have decided to do what I wanted to do more than 20 years ago . . . . . . . . better late than never!



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The Magic of Flowers!

At last I’ve got around to making those ‘Poppies and Cornflowers’ greeting cards!

Bright Poppies and Cornflowers 65th Birthday Card by helikettle
 

But on the other hand, that Islamic Pattern that I made for the collage for my brother’s birthday card is only partly edited. It’s going to take a very long time, and not being a person with a lot of patience, it’s quite likely it’ll languish in its current unfinished state until I forget all about it!

And I’ve only just got around to creating the customizable version of the ‘Bubbles’ Screenprint design from a couple of weeks ago!

Stylish Aqua, Sea Green, White iPhone 4/4S Case Iphone 4 Case-mate Cases by helikettle

I seem to be far more in the mood for flowery designs, in spite of our decidedly un-summery weather!

I’m sure this has been said many times before, but I really believe that this is the worst, coolest, windiest and, above all, wettest summer we’ve ever had! I shall actually be glad when the autumn arrives and we can stop pretending it’s summer!

I haven’t been a great fan of the summer for a couple of years now as I was feeling quite unwell whenever we did get a hot and sunny spell, due to my pollen allergy. I love growing flowers in my garden, particularly the sweetly fragranced ones. And most of them seem to really thrive in this Welsh clay soil!

But gradually, year after year, my symptoms increased and going out in the garden became a no-no and as for bringing flowers into the house – well, my shelves of vases had sat redundant, gathering cobwebs, for a while now -

But then, at the end of May, after the only really hot and sunny couple of days we’ve had, I had my first ever asthma attack after going out to bring my washing in from the garden! 

Scary as it was at the time, I have reason to be grateful it happened. As long as I use the puffer my doctor prescribed, I can enjoy my garden again and even fill my house with vases of flowers, just like the old days, before my allergies. I've even had the posy below in my bedroom and enjoyed a good night's sleep without coughing!

I usually like to let flowers fall naturally in their vase, rather than ‘arranging’ them. And this little posy of lavender, Albertine roses and Mock Orange Blossom particularly caught my eye and asked me to take a photo of it. This weekend I got around to using the photo as the basis of a design – not a painting as such, but a motif that I’ll use to make a repeating pattern. And probably some greeting cards as well!

First I have some more catching up to do - why do I so often seem to be trying to catch up? When Zazzle launch new products, as they have recently, I generally find that some of my older designs will fit on them nicely. So that will keep me busy this week.  

But maybe I’ll find a little bit of time for those ‘New Baby’ designs I mentioned last time!

Patterns - Islamic and Art Nouveau . . .

. . . but the colours are similar!

More than a week has passed and I still haven’t made those ‘Poppy and Cornflowers’ greeting cards!

The trouble is, Zazzle keep showering us with exciting new products to put our designs on so the amount of time I spend creating products keeps growing and edging out other things! Still, it’s something that I enjoy so I’m not complaining.

But I was so busy that I nearly forgot my brother’s 80th birthday and making his card was a bit of a rush in the end as I first painted quite a fiddly Islamic pattern on the layout paper that I cut out for the collage numbers!.

 

It would have been much quicker and easier to colour the pattern digitally; watercolours tend to ‘pool’ on layout paper. But I’ve found in the past that designs that I print out aren’t suitable for collage as the glue on the back seeps through and makes the colours run!


(I scanned the pattern before I began cutting it up so I can clean it up and use it for some Zazzle products at some point, if ever I run out of ideas!)

The card I sent was a slightly more 'personalised' version of this one!

The Art Nouveau design that my bedroom fireplace tiles inspired has been very versatile!  

I just used one of the colour options – I can use the other one another day! - and lined up the motifs on my computer, to make the pattern, trying to ignore the pop-ups that told me I was running out of memory.

It has been fun, experimenting with different background colours on the Zazzle site -

Customisable Art Nouveau iPhone 3 Barely There Iphone 3 Case-mate Cases by helikettle
  

Blue, Green, Red Art Nouveau iPhone 4 Barely There Case-mate Iphone 4 Cases by helikettle

Customisable Art Nouveau iPod Touch Speck Case by helikettle
 

Blue, Green, Red Art Nouveau iPhone 4 Barely There Case-mate Iphone 4 Cases by helikettle
 

 - but I actually quite like the fresh white background with the blue and green.

Customisable Art Nouveau iPhone 3 Barely There Iphone 3 Covers by helikettle
 

It seems there are cases and sleeves for everything electronics- and computer-related! And now that we can make ‘skins’ as well (tomorrow's main task!) they keep us pretty busy.

But what I really enjoy making most are products for the home, clocks and cushions and, of course, a whole range of dining accessories, everything from mugs to jugs, plates to placemats!

You can see a selection of the Dining Accessories I've made this week by clicking

HERE

Blue, Green White Art Nouveau Pattern Napkins by helikettle
 

I’ve been brewing up ideas for some New Baby products.

I wonder whether I’ll get around to making them before the summer crop of new arrivals comes to an end . . .