Wednesday WrapUp 3×3 Part 1

Welcome!

Each Wednesday check this blog for a strategy, process, or reflection for illustration with the iPad app ProCreate. This Wednesday Wrap Up— rather a WarmUp, I share the struggle this week with a challenge in pattern design.

Inspiration

I am still learning various pattern designs so that’s why I’m excited to participate in the 3×3 design challenge from Shannon Mcnab— I’ve participated a couple times before, working in limited palettes and various themes.

Shannon’s SketchDesignRepeat challenge provides three prompts, one for each of three weeks of trendy ideas and samples to help inspire one’s own projects. She now calls it the 3×3 Challenge and sign-up is here.

View a few of my pattern designs in these albums. Not all of these were for a 3×3 challenge, but certainly were inspired by the idea of challenging myself to create motifs that could be used in more than one pattern or design.

Forest Fancies Album

I love these designs — I think this is one of my best. I chose colors my granddaughter would love and printed a frame print of the bouquet for her. So it is a 3×3 design consideration with various patterns and a limited palette.

Forest Fancies

Limited Palette Album

I do my best work with a limited palette– it forces me to stay focused on the basics: motif, highlights, shadows, textures as I stick with the theme, but without adding in lots of colors and so, chaos. Limited Palette:

Patterns Album

Patterns can be anything as this album, Patterns, will demonstrate. I love turning my Daily Doodle into a patter, whether it’s pajamas or cookies or bees– there’s always room for another pattern.

This Week

So this week I rushed into a design for the theme “Get Frosty,” without much consideration except for the possibilities of a snowman in different activities: skiing, sledding, skating, standing– in snow with pine trees.

We received the prompt on Friday and the first zoom chat would be this Monday [Feb 20th], so I wanted something– something done.

And this is the result of rushing:

This is far to busy, although each snowman area is a scene and story within it’s part, but the snowmen and trees fall into a far too cluttered and overly obvious pattern. Although I thought I’d like the dark background to accentuate the whiteness of the snow / snowmen, I don’t like it.

Like I said, each snowman and his activity are pretty good: standing with mittens, skiing, ice skating, and sledding. I created some variation in texture and color of the snowmen with blues and greys in the off white of my palette, and I do like that. They are the kind of imperfect snowmen I’d build. How about you?

Still— too busy, too cluttered, too obviously a pattern.

Revision

My first decision was to eliminate the “ground” — the snowy ground on which the snow people stand.

I wanted my snow people to have a but more fun and personality. Unfortunately, my original snowmen motifs were mostly drawn on one layer, something I rarely do, but in the rush, that’s what I did. So, I decided to “pluff” up — round out– what was there in hats and clothing. As I did, I realized I could add some patterns and other details to add to the creature’s personality. My standing snowman now became a juggler– of hearts and snowballs:

Why the hearts? Because I needed motifs to vary the pattern– to create a collection of patterns on the same theme and with the same palette that would work together for home decor ideas. I let that idea simmer in my mind.

I continued to revise each of my four snowmen– so the ice skater got a worried look and a bird on his arm. See the bird in the pattern in the top image:

I exported each motif as a png to import into the Procreate document that would develop the patterns for various motifs I created.

I thought about stripes, and I still might do a stripe and snowmen pattern, but I reached back into my zen doodle time and remembered the strings of dangles– different shapes that dangle from the edges. So I set about with hearts, shapes, and scrollwork to create a set of five “dangles,” which you can see in this dangle stripe pattern:

If you look in the top image, you can see more hearts and even the bird and a heart dangle on the mistletoe branch.

So my motifs now– with personality and for winter theme accessories:

• snowman sledding
• snowman skating
• snowman ice skating
• snowman juggling
• snowballs
• snowflakes
• hearts – solid
• hearts – 2 solid, 1 outline
• hearts – 1 solid, 2 outline
• hearts- – 3 outline
• hearts — seven mixed
• mistletoe branch
• red bird
• pine tree with layered look
• dangles– 5 different ones

I can mix, match, and rearrange, add different color in background into a many different patterns and even stand alone pictures.

I plan to do a diamond pattern for snowman scenes, and perhaps a stripe pattern.

Here’s the gallery of this weeks Get Frosty patterns:

Join the Fun

As you can see, I created and then revised a collection based on a prompt and the samples and suggestions– all provided for each of three weeks when you sign up [ the 3×3 Challenge and sign-up is here]. So for one week, work on developing an idea, drawing the assets, and then creating a collection with the palette and with the assets you create. It’s energizing and fun. I’m really enjoying the thoughtful way I’m learning to grow a collection, and hope to see you in the 3×3 design challenge from Shannon Mcnab.

I truly appreciate Shannon Mcnab‘s thoughtful presentation and pop-up Facebook group for the challenge. Be sure to sign up– I know it has inspired me and provides more of a focus for my own work and projects I have planned for my grandson.

I look forward to your sharing, and please continue to be a part of the  #warmup4art series to learn and enjoy our work together! See my sharing at IG @42Sheri and Twitter @42Sheri.

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