Surface Pattern Making

In all my excitement, I just have to let you in on what I’ve been doing lately!

You may have heard of Bonnie Christine who leads an Immersion Course teaching Surface Pattern, which runs each spring. I’ve been eyeing it for three years but couldn’t do it because I didn’t have Adobe Illustrator, and, well, it costs a lot of money. I contented myself that if it were meant to happen, it would.

To be honest, I have been focusing on becoming a children’s book illustrator for the past four years. If I’m brutally honest, I realized some truths…I don’t actually like drawing people or characters! Sure, I draw them because I think a scene needs them, but they don’t come naturally to me. Objects, patterns, icons, nature, animals, furnishings, food and the like come much easier to me. I don’t think Not Liking Something means you don’t do it, rather I am adamant that we are all learning and growing on this art journey we are on and should overcome hurdles as they come…and I’ve reached a place where I don’t cringe when I need to add a person to a scene. One factor helped: I drew around 150 characters for my Bible Character Set (you can order in my Spoonflower shop Pocket_Dreams), plus over 300 props and items to go with them!

Though I haven’t thrown away my dream of publishing a book with a “real” publisher, I have closed the chapter for now. In November I submitted my portfolio to 11 agents for review. Although I was told no one ever hears back unless they make the cut, I heard back from 6 agents. They replied, “No, you have lovely work but it doesn’t fit with our agency.” One even said I should keep going. Instead of being sad, I am elated and very proud of my hard earned “no’s”! I love making art and will never quit doing so… I just enjoy being on the journey.

I have given myself permission to pivot and go with what comes naturally. This year on Black Friday I got purchased a subscription to Adobe Illustrator and signed up to take Bonnie’s Free 5 Day Mini Surface Pattern Making Class #learnwithBonnieChristine.

We started out by foraging bits of leaves and nature from our own backyards, scanning them, then making line drawings from them. Then we uploaded into Adobe Illustrator, and the rest was step-by-step following her instructions to make a pattern. I messed up so many times, but so did everyone else!

I can’t say it was easy, but she explains everything so well that I was able to create a few patterns! I have no idea how to use the rest of the tools in Illustrator, but I hopefully will be taking her course when it opens in March. One huge bonus was being a part of a Facebook group of like-minded people who are eager to learn. It was great to chat with them and give and receive encouragement.

Below are my first castle patterns. I adore castles and you will find them appearing on many things I will create in the future!

What are you doing that lights your fire? Are you frustrated by not having time for what you want to do? Are you able to be content in the place where you are growing, knowing that it’s exactly where you should be?

Let me know… I’d love to hear about your journey!