I began work tracing this favourite pattern sketch in March. I put it to one side for a while and picked it up again this week, got a bit obsessed with it, and have probably spent way too much time on it by now! It looks really pretty as a sketch, but presented a few unexpected problems when I put my new outline drawing into repeat. First, there was a pronounced vertical caused by the pink ragged-robin flower directly underneath the main poppies element running into each other; also, the leaf and bud section belonging to it was clumsy. The pattern was overcrowded and needed more flow and space, so the ragged-robin, much as I loved it, was the first to go. Now there was that awkward extra space to be filled with another element. I came up with these two ideas: More challenges presented themselves on the way, the kind I enjoy digging away at to get a pattern to work. These are the four last stages before reaching the final design:
1. The dock plant element, as well as not being as simple as I wanted for the fill, presented another unwanted vertical; also marked here for amendment are daisy elements whose style didn't match the overall look, and some line clustering like ink blots to be cleaned up. 2. Switched to the simpler poppy element, but eek! Now I have an unwanted strong diagonal from one of the other elements. 3. I flipped and refitted the offending element to disrupt the diagonal and improve the overall flow; I wanted to suggest a relaxed meadow ruffled by gentle breezes rather than a countryside march! In addition I found three more 'ink-fill' areas to simplify. 4. The final stage, indicating areas for further decluttering to clarify the line. So, there we have it; the outline pattern now fits well and is flowing nicely. The next step is to try colouring it, and see how it looks after that. Thanks for visiting, see you next week! Comments are closed.
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Welcome to my illustration and patterns blog!
I illustrate under the pen-name of Binky McKee, McKee being my mother's maiden name. Binky was the name of every single cat my great-grandmother kept - allegedly about 40 of them during her 94 years of life. I changed the website address a few months ago, so some older links on previous posts are broken. If you click one of those and it takes you to a strange page, simply replace the .co.uk after the binkymckee. with weebly.com and it will work again. I hope you enjoy your visit! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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I keep lots of scrapbooks and sketchbooks where I develop ideas and design little creatures. Here's a peek inside one ...
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As you may know, I am also known as Heather Eliza Walker.
Click the image if you would like to find out more and visit my other website. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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May 2024
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This time, take a peek into my ceramic design sketchbook. I actually made some of the mugs, but I kind of prefer the drawings! The plate designs are painted on paper plates, a most liberating process.
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These watercolours are from my pattern sketchbook. I used coloured wax crayons to resist the washes of watercolour, also home-made rubber stamps dipped in bleach then printed on crêpe paper - the bleach takes out the paper dyes.
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A sketchbook I used for mark-making with unusual objects - corks, seed-heads, feathers, home-made rubber stamps, my fingers and lots of flicky things ...
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