Cozy Christmas Pattern

a pattern of cozy Christmas birds sitting on holly branches wearing ear mufflers, knitted hats, and scarves in a snow storm by Sheri42 — on Flickr

The Challenge

I’ve finished the hero and pattern for this week’s prompt Cozy Christmas for Shannon Mcnab’s 3×3 Sketch-Design-Repeat Challenge. This is the last of the prompts for this version of the challenge. We only had to post one design, but I am adding to each to create a collection: hero, secondary, blenders. You might want to sign up for Shannon’s Portfolio Masterclass to learn how to build your portfolio for licensing. Shannon has expertise and powerful lessons to get you started.

My Plan

Holiday birds are cozy characters, dressed up in scarves, ear muffs, and stocking caps. I made a hero illustration [revised, below and in yesterday’s post] and today finished the secondary pattern. I’m still working on the blender, which will be holly.

The secondary pattern that accompanies the hero is shown above. It’s made from the assets created for the hero, which I saved as pngs for reuse in this pattern or others. I’m also going to revise this pattern a bit, with fewer birds and a holly branch [I think].

Yesterday I mentioned that two leaves were distracting and I fixed that. They are the leaves behind the bird’s heads. I changed to a different Bardot Brush, Bardot Gritty Liner, from her Texturrific Liner set.

five different birds gather on holly branches; illustration by Sheri42 — note the solid vein in the leaves behind the heads of the two lower birds.

note the solid vein in the leaves behind the heads of the two lower birds.

Notes

Please note that Lisa Bardot’s license is for personal and commercial use, with no restrictions if you happen to be fortunate enough to license your art with a major company. There are good restrictions — like not reselling or adapting, to protect her work. Check out her license. That makes these brushes well worth it, to not be restricted if your art is licensed to a large company.

I know I’m still learning and have a ways to go to present something lovely, but I’m planning to revise the collection with different brushes than I’ve used to make it one that’s mine to sell, without restrictions. I’ll be writing a blog post about that soon, probably for next Wednesday’s WrapUp. If you have any questions, just comment below.

I enjoyed drawing these little birds, creating the wings and tails in different ways, adding the cozy apparel, and arranging them.

Thank you so much to Jennifer Nichols for her classes, community, and sharing to help all of us improve and discover our own styles and processes. She shares many brushes with no restrictions [except not to share]. The “snowflake” texture is from one of her sets of repeat canvases. Much appreciated. I’m an affiliate for her platform, so click here to learn more and join us in her community where her classes are located.

You may want to click the Artist Gems category on my blog for Jenn and other teachers and artists who might inspire you.

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.

pattern of cozy Christmas birds sitting on holly branches wearing ear mufflers, knitted hats, and scarves in a snow storm.

more planning holiday bird-themed illustrations for the #cozychristmas #3x3designchallenge #sketchdesignrepeat challenge

#warmup4art #cldoodle24 #holidaybirds #aprildoodle #ipadartwithjennifernichols