Welcome
On most Wednesdays, check this blog for a strategy, process, or reflection for illustration with the iPad app ProCreate or Affinity Designer. I missed last week, and for these two weeks, I have almost completed a collection for Liz Kohler Brown’s Mini Collection challenge and kept up with Brushtober with Art Makers Club / Making Art Everyday with Lisa Bardot.
Brushtober
Liza Bardot is once again sponsoring a #brushtober month, challenging us to learn about different brushes by using one brush for one or several prompts, or mixing it up with different brushes just to learn and practice with brushes one has not used before. The prompts are on the spooky side. Check out her Making Art Everyday for this October, 2026. Above is my Flickr album for this year’s Brushtober, tagged with both #brushtober and #brushtober26 so I can add to it next year.
My favorite one so far is the birch trees shown at the top. The entire piece except for the text was painted with Procreate’s Grunge Pepperberry brush. It almost painted itself because of the texture from the brush. I love birch trees, so this was especially fun. I could add a bit of shadowing too, now that I look at it. Just like writing, sometimes the piece is never quite done. LOL. Take a look at each piece and the brushes used; each brush is new to me.
Mini Collection
Liz Kohler Brown’s Mini Collection challenge provides its participants with a strategy for better planning a creation of a mini collection of nine coordinated patterns. Take a look at the video in the link for how the challenge works.
I started out with an idea I’d already created a collection for in Procreate, but I did want vector patterns, which I create in Affinity Designer. I also did not like the color palette; it’s pretty, I’d worked quite a while to choose colors that fit together, but I still find the values do not have enough contrast. So I started all over with my Pond Life theme for fabric or wallpaper.
I found a trend report by CatCoq which indicated a trend for watery gardens. Then I conducted some trending research on Etsy and discovered that lots of people search for things like that, including things about ponds. So I decided Pond Life would work for a pattern theme. It starts with a poem:
From the morning shadows
~ Sheri Edwards
watch the light fill life
into the lilies as it dances
across pond’s ripples
and warms dawn’s calm
with light upon your face.
Here’s my planning work for theme, color palette, and layout designs. My previous designs and palette are also listed. To find my palette for this one, I searched Pinterest for an image with evening or morning on a pond. I used that image for creating a palette from the image in Procreate.
I have created nine patterns, but have several more to complete for a larger collection. I’m ready for the mini-challenge. I am creating “side by side” designs to show how the patterns work together. Then I’ll submit my work to Liz for the challenge, although I am excited already with what I have accomplished. There’s fine-tuning to do and a story to write, but the planning strategies that Liz suggested definitely helped me complete the project without a lot of struggling and procrastination. I’m very thankful to be in Liz’s community, The Studio.
Thanks for stopping by!
It’s been a busy week new projects and learning about brushes.
As always, if you have any questions, please ask in the comments.
You can find many helpful artists teachers, including Lisa and Liz, on my Artist Resources page. Take a look at their IG and YouTube. Find one that fits your learning and art preferences and stick with them a while to develop your skills.
You’re welcome to follow this blog for art inspiration. We can share with #warmup4art to enjoy our work together! I look forward to your sharing and find me at @42Sheri, on Mastodon Sheri42, on Flickr teach.eagle Sheri 42. And, I’m so thankful you’ve been joining me with art this year! Take care!
