Wednesday WrapUp Wildflower Remixes

Welcome!

On most Wednesdays, check this blog for a strategy, process, or reflection for illustration with the iPad app ProCreate or Affinity Designer. This Wednesday Wrap Up reviews what I thought was a slow week — but it’s been fun and productive.

Delightful Art IRL

As you can see, I received a package from Spoonflower, actually three packages. Parts of the Coulee Country Collection arrived. First, the arrowleaf balsamroot Sunflower Tea Towel Calendar, which I wrote about here. I entered it into the Design Challenge. And, the napkins from the Snow Buckwheat Collection also arrived [see post]– love the pale yellow; it reminds me of the dusty landscape on my walks with the dog.

And a swatch from the Tie a Bow designs also arrived. Love that the handwritten tags show up so well:

Reworking Designs

Sunflower

I’ve been spending time reworking motifs into new designs, like the one above added to the Arrowleaf Balsamroot Collection today. My husband loves this tablecloth:

Pansy

I wrote about the reworking of my favorite pansy motifs here — I just love the colors. I’m supposed to be working on the tea towel design for this as a backsplash, but I’m behind schedule. I sometimes upload a second of the same design as a tea towel so that the pattern is centered properly.

Globe Mallow

Last week I shared my experience with Affinity Designer to rework a previous motif into a better pattern. I’ve spent quite a bit of time with this redesign. The star shapes in the art are based on the very tiny hairs on the plant’s leaves that scientists call stellate pubescence. And the Globe Mallow bee chooses to live off the mallow only. The Anicia checkerspot butterfly loves the desert area plants, and since it is a peachy orange too, it fit with the color palette. The plan is to now add the color!

Below is what my first pattern looks like, mimicking the plant that inspired it. I wanted something with a bit of background in it, and the stellate hairs worked since they tell part or the globe mallow story.

And there’s more

So– I’ve spent a bit of time reworking motifs, including in Affinity Designer with the mallow design, which means time spent learning. But I also enjoyed two classes from Jennifer Nichol’s Creative Journey Community. [affiliate link].

The first is this so cute hedgehog– I placed mine in a grassy woods and gave him a round belly, puffy cheeks, and ladybug friends with a quote by Misty Copeland, the first African American woman promoted as a principal dancer in ABT’s 75-year history.

The second is one you can watch too— on YouTube, totally for beginners and a fun one for experts too. Take a look at my “Hello Autumn” card I made from the lesson, which includes so much:

• canvas textures,
• color/fill,
• layers,
• clipping masks [though we didn’t use them],
• blend modes,
• smudging,
• and making it less digital.

Sign up for her newsletter to get the texture brushes, pastel brushes, and botanical brushes we used. I also added one of my own botanical brushes– the five leaves with veins, which you can download here. Since it is just one brush, you will find it in your “imported” category at the very end of your brush list when you’ve downloaded and imported it.

What A Week!

At first I thought I wouldn’t have anything to write about today — it seemed like I hadn’t done much art at all since I spent much time learning Affinity Designer for my remix of the globe mallow. And yet– sunflowers, pansies, hedgehogs, and crows also filled my imagination and time.

Check Out Jen’s Community

If you like the hedgehog and crow, you might want to watch a video of Jennifer Nichol’s community on IG or watch her YouTube Crow lesson to see how she teaches and the type of community she facilitates. This month [September 2024] is 20% off Jennifer Nichol’s Creative Journey Community. [affiliate link]. Well worth the cost to be part of a supportive membership of artists learning together through Jennifer’s teaching and resources. Come see what we’re about! I can hardly believe all the knowledge and skill I’ve gained to create all the art in this post! I’ve grown so much as an artist, and Jennifer and her community is a big part of that.

Hope to see you there!