Can you believe that we're already into the third month of 2020.  This pattern was inspired by both the March holiday as well as everything green that is starting to pop up! I hope you enjoy it as this month's calendar backdrop. 

To download your calendar to your device just click on the screen size you need. If you can't find the size you need for your device please let me know and I'll see if I can add it to next month's calendar.

If you are unsure what your device screen size is you may check that here.

     

    Desktops                            iPhones                             iPad

Desktop 1920 x 1080px             IPhone6,7,8+ 1080 x 1920 px      iPad mini 768 x 1024px

Desktop 1366 x 768px                                                                     iPad Pro 2732 x 2048 px

27" iMAC-2009-2012 2560 x 1440 px

21.5" iMAC-4096 x 2304 px

Some Fun Irish Themed Products Available on Society6

Thank you so much for stopping by and stay tuned for more pattern work coming up!!

Jan

Arts & Crafts Movement Inspired Patterns

So for the last couple of weeks I've been working on learning about Arts & Crafts style motifs and patterns.  We've been practicing drawing them, inking them and then using them in patterns.  I thought I'd share a few of the motifs and one of my patterns with you as I go. If you've ever heard of the wallpaper designer William Morris then you have some idea of what I'm talking about. 

This first photo is one of my final repeat patterns.  It still needs a little work, but I really like it.  It is what is called a half-drop repeat. Keep in mind that all of these patterns started with a simple pencil sketch by hand. 

These next few photos are an overview of the process before scanning everything into Adobe Illustrator to get to the final repeat.  Practicing drawing each motif in several variations is helpful before you begin putting them together with other elements. 

Once you've done that you're ready to start laying out your pattern.  For this half-drop I used the old fashioned hand method with sticky notes to rough out the initial pattern. 

Once you have the repeating pattern roughed out you scan in one of the sticky notes and print it out much larger to begin drawing each component of the pattern. 

Once all that is done it is scanned into Adobe Illustrator, vectorized, colorized and assembled in the program.  The result, hopefully is a vectorized pattern that can be both scaled and recolored to your heart's content.  

Here are a couple of other drawings of some other motif styles. 

Tudor Style Roses/Wild Roses

Honeysuckle

I often get asked about my art supplies and tools so here is a short list. 

1) Pencil, usually and HB up to a 2H.  A harder pencil lead makes it easier to erase after you ink the design.

2) An eraser, I usually use a white rubber eraser.

3) To ink the designs, it depends on what size I need but I usually use a Pentel Fude Touch Sign Pen or a Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen (Hard or Soft).  Final details are usually added with Pigma Microns in sizes 01, 03 or 05. 

4) Any sketch pad with smooth paper (not watercolor paper) or even good quality printer paper will work.  Smooth paper helps you to have cleaner lines when you scan. 

5) A good scanner and a computer with Adobe Illustrator. 

That's it, you're good to go.  

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed this post about surface pattern design from the Arts & Crafts movement. 

Jan

Free Download February 2020 Calendar

February is almost here and I got this up just in time. This pattern was developed from a set of my hand-painted watercolored roses and rosebuds. I think this makes a beautiful desktop wallpaper.

To download your calendar to your device just click on the screen size you need. If you can't find the size you need for your device please let me know and I'll see if I can add it to next month's calendar.

If you are unsure what your device screen size is you may check that here.

     

      Desktops                                   iPhones                             iPad

Desktop 1920 x 1080px                   IPhone 750 x 1334px                iPad mini 768 x 1024px

Desktop 1366 x 768px

Valentine's Day Themed Products Available on Society6

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Jan

Journey to Becoming a Surface Pattern Designer - Part 2

Last post I talked about what a Surface Pattern Designer(SPD) is and what they do. Let me restate that I am starting a whole new career journey in my 60s.  I'm proud of that and think there are many women out there in the same boat. Women who are looking for something new or are returning to an old love that life derailed somewhere back in time.  I wake up early every morning excited to work on this new career and wonder why I didn't start it sooner. 

My first piece of artwork. Circa 1971.

This week are my insights about what is needed to be successful as a SPD.  Now, this is coming from one who is starting out so this is my experience as of this moment. 

1) First and foremost, you must learn and master Adobe Illustrator(AI). You can do everything you need in AI and it is the "go-to" software program for surface pattern design.  Most companies you work with will request an AI file, so learn the tools you need to succeed.  If I can do it, so can you. (No cracks here about new tricks and old dogs!)

2) Some drawing or painting skills.  You don't have to be Picasso, but even simple motifs can make darling patterns. So, start drawing  every day.  The more you draw the better you get. Draw whatever you see and keep all of your sketches. You never know when they're going to come in handy.

As evidence of this I present a quick and simple sketch page I did for a pattern challenge a couple of weeks ago along with one pattern I created from them.  Nothing fancy or elaborate but oh so cute!  I turned one into wrapping paper and a cool insulated mug.  You can read about this in my blog post "10 Great Valentine's Day Gifts I Love From Society6" here.

Original drawing in ink. 

Valentine's Day Wrapping Paper

3) Once you learn how to make patterns make them often. Many, many patterns will help you start honing your signature style.  You learn from every pattern you make. Eventually you'll be able to look at a pattern and decide what's working and what's not and also begin to see your signature style. 

4) Find like minded souls. The current buzz word is "tribe" so we'll go with that.  Find your "tribe."  It is so helpful to learn from others, receive feedback, commiserate and get inspired by the work of others. Usually this is done through joining a free Facebook group. 

Even small original watercolor rosebuds can be turned into a beautiful pattern that will work on just about anything.

5) Create an online presence. You have to get your work out there. If nobody can find you, your work won't be seen. Now, this doesn't mean you have to be on every social media site, have a blog, a FB page and a website.  Start small and be strategic about it depending on what your end goals are.  My suggestion would be Facebook and a website only to start.

I do have an Instagram page simply because the format fits with visual arts and that's where the bulk of my tribe lives.  If you'd like to visit me there and see more examples of my work here is the link Jan.Partain

6) Create what we call your "elevator speech."  What can you say to someone who doesn't know anything about you in 2-3 sentences that explains what you do? This is your brand's identity.  What brand do you think of when I say "clean, shine and protect?" Armorall...right?  Same thing. (I thank my friend Catherine for that excellent example.) What do you want to be known for?

A simple, elegant pattern from a botanical tulip drawing. 

7) Tenacity is an important quality. This will not happen overnight and could take up to a year or more to actually see money coming in depending on how quickly you work. However, know that the work you put in now will result in benefits down the road. Think of it as laying the foundation for a house yet to be built. 

8) Be brave and develop a thick skin. Fear holds us back. It's scary to put your work out there for others to see, like, dislike, copy or whatever.  But if you're not out there you won't be seen by companies looking for fresh designers. I recommend reading Austin Kleon's "Show Your Work".  This applies for whatever your work may be. Perhaps you paint, or create container gardens or decorate or blacksmith or build custom furniture.  Whatever it is, get it out there. Online will enable you to reach so many more people than just those in your community. EVERYTHING is online these days. 

9) Develop a back-up plan.  Start thinking about how your business can survive if your physical presence gets removed from the equation. What if you break your leg, get laid off or a family member gets sick.  What is your back-up plan? 

10) Finally, have fun. If you're not having fun it's not worth it. And when you're having fun doing what you love you are your authentic self. That shines through to those who enjoy your work. 

So, that's my 10 things for now. Many I've done and many I'm still working on, but wanted to take you along on my journey as it's happening.  I've learned so much and will be sharing that in a future post.  

For now, a sneak peek at my sketch book pages as I learn about pattern design during the Arts & Crafts movement. More on these later!

The tudor rose. 

Pencil sketches waiting to be inked. 

   
I would love to know what your passion is, so please share below!

As always, thanks for stopping by.
Jan

Journey to Becoming a Surface Pattern Designer-Part 1

What is a Surface Pattern Designer?

My "Bright Hearts" pattern-acrylic, ink and collage on canvas. 

When I tell people I'm working toward becoming a Surface Pattern Designer their first response is either a blank stare or they ask "What is that?"  I'll try to explain below. 

"Vintage Bouquet" 

Think about all those cute notebooks, calendars, greeting cards, journals, art prints and wrapping paper you see at an art or office supply store.  Not to mention the rows and rows of quilt fabrics in a quilt store.  Someone, an artist, designs those patterns for the company to print on their products.  Some of those artists are in house, but many are free lance artists that license their designs to the company.  

"Honeycomb"

The company has a position, usually called an Art Director, that directs what art will adorn their products for the coming seasons.  They are always on the look out for new and fresh ideas to set themselves apart in the marketplace from their competition.  They find artists/work they like and contract with them to provide designs for their products.  Sometimes this is an ongoing contractual agreement where the artist gets a royalty (% of sales) from the products sold with her (or his) design.  They often continue to work for that company for years.  The other option is that the company may just pay a flat, one-time fee for one or two designs in the artist's portfolio.

"Flight Path"

For years I've been an analog artist (pencil, paintbrush and canvas).  However, a lot of time is spent creating a piece and, at the end, you only have that one piece to sell. Needless, to say, it's only the lucky few that get to earn a living that way.  With Surface Pattern Design you get to sell that same artwork over and over without any additional work. 

"Sage & Mustard Plaid"

Now, it's not that I'm lazy, but I do have to pay the rent. This seemed like a good avenue to take so that one can be compensated for all of the years of learning, practice, skill building and trial and error.  You still get to do what you love, but now it has "legs" as some people would say. 

There are other avenues for the Surface Pattern Designer, but we'll get into that in a future post.  It also requires some technical and software skills, but more about that later!

Original drawing for damask pattern below.

For now, I just wanted to explain what a Surface Pattern Designer is, what they do and talk a little about my personal journey. So, next time you're out and about see how many patterns on products you can identify that were created by an artist. I bet you'll be surprised!


Next blog post we'll talk about what it takes to be a Surface Pattern Designer. (Do ya'll mind if I abbreviate that from now on as SPD?)

As always, thanks for stopping by!
Jan

10 Great Valentine's Day Gifts I Love from Society6

So, Valentine's Day is coming up in a little over 3 weeks so I thought I'd take the time to share some of my favorite Valentine's Day items from Society6!  If you're not familiar with Society6 it is a place where artists, like me, can make designs and offer them for printing on many different products. They ship internationally and take care of all shipping and handling.

In turn, the artist gets a small % of the sale price (set by the company) as a commissions so they can take the time to make more art!  Keep an eye out, they often have free shipping and/or 20% off sales!  So, here is my curated list of neat ideas for Valentine's Day found on Society6. Full disclosure, these are affiliate links but also just things I found that I like.

Click on the photo to see the item in Society6. 

1) First, you have to have wrapping paper to wrap up your gift for your sweetheart.  As it so happens (wink wink) I've developed this pattern that will work for Valentine's Day or any other romantic event and is available on wrapping paper, travel mug and more! 

Please visit my shop if you'd like to see more items designed by me (link in the side bar).  

2) This cute mug designed by Wesley Bird is available and I think is just adorable with its subtle message.

3) Third is this great American Sign Language card by D&C Design Studio.  They come in packs of three just in case you have multiple sweethearts in your life! 

4) Next comes an iPhone case for someone special.  I love this abstract painted design by Belinda Fireman for an iPhone case and could also work year round. She also has leggings, a tote bag, art prints and stickers. So fun!!

5) Who doesn't love a good tote bag!! This one by Heaven7 with bright, hand-drawn hearts on a black background is sure to please. 

6) If you're looking for a gift for him, this cute coffee mug from PrintableLifeStyle might be just the ticket if there's a furbaby involved. 

7) For your favorite gal with attitude. We can all use a carry-all pouch for something! (I have a niece I need to get this for). By EnvyArt.

8) For your favorite cat lover, get them this cozy throw so they'll be warm even when your not near. Designed by Catclub.

9) That just right can cooler when the game is on and they gotta keep the beer cold!!  Design by CreativeAngel. 

10) And last but not least, this beautiful mini art print quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald designed by The Art Shed.

That's it! A few things for him and for her or any loved one in your life. Purchase something from an artist today! 

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Jan

Free Download January 2020 Calendar

Wow! January snuck up on me and I'm late posting this. I hope you can use it for the remainder of the month and I'm already working on the February calendar.

To download your calendar to your device just click on the screen size you need. If you can't find the size you need for your device please let me know and I'll see if I can add it to next month's calendar.

If you are unsure what your device screen size is you may check that here.

     

      Desktops                                   iPhones                             iPad

Desktop 1920 x 1080px                   IPhone 750 x 1334px                iPad mini 768 x 1024px

Desktop 4096 x 2304px

Desktop 1366 x 768px

AVAILABLE PRODUCTS

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Jan

From Tiny Home to Farmhouse

A lot can happen in life while you're not looking!  

In a nutshell, since my last blog post I've moved 6 times over 3 states. I also went back to school full time for a horticulture degree, worked at a goat dairy farm, and am embarking on a whole new career!

 I bought a tiny home and lived in it for a year on 10 acres and loved it! 

That was until I found my dream farmhouse 1,000 miles away in North Carolina!

With all those life changes the blog had to be put on hold for a while, but I'm back. Along the way, my loves of cooking, gardening and art followed me every step of the way.

But ya'll, that's a LOT! 

So, I just wanted to say I've finally found a place I feel I can put down roots so hopefully you'll start hearing more from me in the near future!  I'll talk about my new career venture in another post.

I plan to offer free printable and downloads on the blog so keep an eye open!  For now, say hi and please subscribe if you'd like to know about future posts on my three loves of cooking, gardening and art!

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Jan