Tag Archives: pattern design

Make It In Design Summer School Finals

Whew! I did it. All three of the final assignments are posted. Hallelujah AMEN! I spent all day yesterday thinking I still had a piece to do for the advanced assignment. Which meant a late, late night. I was done, and didn’t even know it.

I am starting my painting for today this afternoon, so tomorrow I will post two paintings for Leslie’s challenge.

Make It In Design Summer School – Final Assignments

To revisit the first and second assignments just click on the links. I’d really love to hear what you think.

Make It In Design is a collaboration between internationally acclaimed surface pattern designer Rachael Taylor and award-winning entrepreneur Beth Kempton (formerly Nicholls!), founder of Do What You Love. They are based in the UK. All courses are delivered online and are accessible from anywhere in the world. They also publish MOYO magazine, the world’s first online magazine dedicated to surface pattern design.

Everyone submitting work for all three creative briefs in their track (Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced) will be entered into a draw to win a free place on The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design. We also have the opportunity to be featured in their Look Book, which will be shared with their industry-wide network later this year. 

I so admire the work these women are producing.

Beginner Track Brief 3

Each brief is five to eight pages of inspiration and direction. We are left to our own interpretation of the theme. The megatrend, or over riding influence, for all three assignments was Dissonance. The final theme for brief 3 was Jewels. We were not assigned a palette, though one was suggested. I chose colors from the Advanced palette, to use for all three assignments with the intention of creating a mini collection, designs that would work together.

I wanted to create an abstract, graphic design.  My take on diamonds. This was created entirely on the computer.  Some of the key words they supplied: hard, simple, clean, decadent, sophisticated. I will be adding links once I have added these to my shops. You can click on the image to see a larger version.

MIID BEG Brief 3 - Jewels. Surface design © 2014 Sheila Delgado

MIID BEG Brief 3 – Jewels. Surface design © 2014 Sheila Delgado

Intermediate Track Brief 3

The theme here was Feathers, I did use variations of two of the assigned palette colors. The gold and blue. Key words supplied included: feathers, quills, wings, smooth, soft, dreamy. I wanted to use sharp edges, to coordinate with the Jewels piece. Again, abstracted shapes. I painted these in watercolor and added digital details, you can see more of the process here.

MIID Intermediate Brief 3, Feathers. Surface design © 2014 Sheila Delgado

MIID Intermediate Brief 3, Feathers. Surface design © 2014 Sheila Delgado

First design idea, mock up, feathers. © 214 Sheila Delgado

First design idea, mock up, feathers. © 214 Sheila Delgado

I started in another direction… but it just didn’t take flight. I didn’t realize until I had just about finished though, that it would not have impact. These feathers were painted in watercolor, and the lines were added digitally. I just decided that it was a bit on the kindergarten level, and I was aiming higher. Still, these feathers may find their way into something else, never know.

We were also assigned a mock up, and this is the one I turned in.  (Below)

MIID INT Brief 3 mock up. © 2014 Sheila Delgado

MIID INT Brief 3 mock up. © 2014 Sheila Delgado

Advanced Track Brief 3

Our assignment was Intricate Chaos. Among the key words: intricate, paper-cut, detailed, stained glass. I did not cut loose on this, not sure I got the chaotic dissonance aspect. But I love this design. It turned out exactly as I had envisioned. My artist friends will know that doesn’t often happen.

The design above I had first thought of as a secondary design, smaller scale to coordinate with the design below. But once I had completed this, I realized – DUH – Intricate!!! So I ditched my intended and non-existent advanced design idea. I will create it at a later time, to go along with all of these.

MIID Advanced Brief 3, Intricate Chaos. Watercolor, and digital mixed media. © 2014 Sheila Delgado

MIID Advanced Brief 3, Intricate Chaos. Watercolor, and digital mixed media. © 2014 Sheila Delgado

 

Click on the image to see details. The feathers were painted in watercolor. Then I scanned them into the computer and manipulated them in Photoshop. I cleaned up the edges, but I did leave some rough and wobbly bits. Not too perfect.

MIID ADV Brief 3 mock up. © 2014 Sheila Delgado

MIID ADV Brief 3 mock up. © 2014 Sheila Delgado

There are only five shapes, but I used some in reverse, or mirror image, to give more variance. The circles and lines, are really just one digital design, I made it a little larger than the feather shapes, so I could place it differently on each feather. I wanted them to all relate, but not be the same. Once I saw the white on the bright feathers, WOOO WHOOOO!

Toss pattern. © 2014 Sheila Delgado

Toss pattern. © 2014 Sheila Delgado

I wanted white to be a major player in each of these designs. Crisp and clean. I don’t usually lean towards red, but this color combo was just calling me. The colors in all three are actually off just a bit, so they don’t work as a collection. But I can go in and digitally alter them to coordinate. I created this simple toss as well….so that is five patterns in 7 days. (whoa)

 

I loved taking part in this challenge, oh and it was challenging. I am really happy with six of the nine designs, not a bad average. These designs will be available at Spoonflower as fabrics, wall paper, gift wrap and decals. Also I will put them on products in my Zazzle shop.

Thanks for taking a look, and following me on this journey. As always, I would love to hear your thoughts, comments are always welcome!

 

 

Make It In Design Summer School – Brief 1

I am having so much fun in the Make It In Design Summer school! I have learned about 5 new techniques in Photoshop, really happy about that. Very simple techniques, but major “Aha” moments.

For the Beginning track, our assignment was “Tropical Paradise”. I decided to update an old pattern of mine. I have wanted to do this, and it seemed the perfect reason. I changed the palette, and added textures to the design. You can see the original here.

fun-foam-textured-sheetsFirst I had to create the textures. I used textured fun foam craft sheets and ink pad to “stamp” the designs. Then I scanned the paper into the computer and digitally removed the background (paper) so I was left with just the dots, or waves. I also created some textures digitally.

My submission will probably give you a craving for a creamsicle. I decided to go soft and mellow with the new version.

 

MIID Beginning Track Brief 1 submission. © Sheila Delgado 2014

MIID Beginning Track Brief 1 submission. © Sheila Delgado 2014

MIID Beginning track swimsuit mock up.

MIID Beginning track swimsuit mock up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can see the complete gallery for the Beginner track here. Everyone really had fun with this theme. We also created swimsuit mock ups.

My submission for the Intermediate track, “Retro Geometric” is a classic Persian design that I tweaked a bit. I was very glad that for this assignment, we did not have to turn in a repeating pattern. The size of canvas I was working on was not large enough to show the repeat. I can easily take this design and add to it, to create a repeat.

MIID Intermediate track Brief 1. © Sheila Delgado 2014

MIID Intermediate track Brief 1. © Sheila Delgado 2014

MIID Retro Geometric pillow mock up

MIID Retro Geometric pillow mock up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UUGGHH! I just realized I submitted the wrong design. Laughing at myself. Oh well! This is the first version I did (orange), and I just wasn’t feeling the colors. We were given a palette, but we were allowed to use tints as well, so it was pretty open. This was my submission.

Retro Geometric colorway 2. © Sheila Delgado 2014

Retro Geometric colorway 2. © Sheila Delgado 2014

Retro Geometric pillow mock up. © Sheila Delgado 2014

Retro Geometric pillow mock up. © Sheila Delgado 2014

And this in the cool tones, is what I meant to turn in.  (Hmm, sorry it is so blurry.) Which palette do you like better? I also did a design based on an old Native American rug.

 

The MIID site went down when we were all trying to submit our designs, and I am guessing in the middle of all that… brain fart.

You can see the Intermediate gallery here.

MIID Advanced track Brief 1 submission. © Sheila Delgado 2014

MIID Advanced track Brief 1 submission. © Sheila Delgado 2014

For the Advanced track, I created this design, based on a vase I have in my studio. Honestly, I just wasn’t coming up with any good ideas for the “Water Rays” theme.

I drew a bunch of line patterns, and circles, scanned them, and then pieced them together in Photoshop. This is not a repeating design, and that was not required for the assignment.

I was really second guessing this one towards the end. I had just the fish with the texture, and I thought if I added eyes, I would need to add a mouth, or more details to the body for balance. I was thinking that I did not want to add many more details, because the background is already so busy. When I added the eyes… the design just popped.

water rays suit mock up

MIID Advanced track swimsuit mock up.

I really like how it looks on the suit! You can view the Advanced track gallery here.

Participation in the Make It In Design Summer School, gives each designer the opportunity to win a free spot in their upcoming course, The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design. They are giving away three spots, one for each track of the summer school. Exciting!

We get our assignments for the 2nd Brief on Monday, and I can’t wait! It is an achievement for me, to create 5 designs in one week, Whoa! And Whew!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spoonflower Fall Leaves Contest

If you remember, in October I painted a fall leaf for the Milliande Birthday postcard swap. And if you don’t remember, that is OK. You can see it here.

My Dear friend Joan Princing had the great idea of using it for a fabric design. I did a very simple toss pattern and that is my entry in this weeks Spoonflower design contest. If you like what you see, you can vote for me. There is only one page, just click and submit.

I appreciate your support, and I thank you for taking the time!

Surface design from watercolor painting, fall leaf.  4 x 6 on 140 lb. cold press paper. © 2013 Sheila Delgado

Surface design from watercolor painting, fall leaf. 4 x 6 on 140 lb. cold press paper. © 2013 Sheila Delgado