Pattern Jots

Apr 10, 2015

MATS Bootcamp April

After a quiet ( and very cold ) Easter Weekend I am in full swing back into designing.

I was very much looking forward to the new "mini" assignment for Lilla Roger's bootcamp new mini assignment for the month of April.

It is lettering...the words "The Global Art Gathering".

The Global Art Gathering is actually taking place in June in Brighton and I wished I could go and meet fellow designers as well as Lilla and many other fabulous speakers at the event.

Usually if I do lettering I start designing a whole alphabet and then use any letters I need for my illustration, patterns, etc. I did the same this time but pulled out my collection of Origami papers and started cutting out the letters. Next I did some hand lettering and while putting the words together, I also used some letters I have done some time back already and mixed it all up. I am happy with the result and I might develop some quotes for my Etsy shop in this style.

copyright©Pattern Jots by Maike Thoma 2015

Lettering cut out of Origami paper

Happy Friday everyone !

Apr 5, 2015

Happy Easter !

Easter Greetings !

Apr 1, 2015

New Items

Last week you saw some sketches of my vase shapes and this week I want to show you what I did with them.

So far all items are for digital download and you can print them out on your home printer or in a copy shop.

Over the next few days I will also experiment with this pattern and see how it looks on the front cover of a notebook.

If you like to see what else I have in my Etsy store, please click here.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/227864074/perpetual-birthday-calendardiyprintable?ref=listing-shop-header-2

https://www.etsy.com/listing/228116725/modern-art-print-scandinavian-inspired?ref=listing-shop-header-1

https://www.etsy.com/listing/228387205/printable-calendar-2015-diyplanner?ref=listing-shop-header-0

I am wishing everyone a Happy Thursday and a very Happy Easter !

Mar 26, 2015

Sneak Peek

Life is busy and I am always grateful if I can sneak in some time to draw. I wanted to draw something in black.

I always love black and white art - I find it extremely powerful and it is simple at the same time.

Thinking about what I can draw ( and looks good in black and white only ) vases came into my mind and I started drawing some...just as shapes.

Here is a sneak peek...next week I will show you my new product(s) I made from it for my Etsy store...it is still in progress.

Sketches : Shapes of vases

Happy Thursday !

Mar 5, 2015

Happy Dance !

I have to admit I did my little happy dance a while ago, when I found out my submissions for the new Print&Pattern Geometric book were accepted and my work will actually be shown in the newest book of the fabulous Print&Pattern series by Bowie Style

( Thank you Marie for including me ! )

The first Print&Pattern book ( the blue one ) was my first book about surface pattern design ever and I still love this one as well as the following books "Print&Pattern 2" and "Print&Pattern Kids".

Of course it was my dream to be included into one of these books one day but I was not sure to ever achieve my dream. I remember I submitted for the kids call and I did not make it. So I tried again for the Geometric book ( which really suits my style best ) and my work was accepted.

Hurray !

Amazing designers are showing their beautiful designs in this book and many of them are fellow students from the "Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design" course by Rachael Taylor and Beth Kempton.

I think this post is appropriate for the World Book Day 2015 today !

Who does not love a good book ?

No matter if it is a book with lots of pictures or a good novel.

I love books and I truly believe you can not own enough of it ( especially art books... ;) )

New book Print&Pattern Geometric by Bowie Style ( picture source )

I am on page 194 ! ( picture source )

Happy World Book Day and Happy Thursday !

Feb 26, 2015

New Notebooks

I am very excited to show you my latest additions to my Etsy store...my first physical products handmade by me : Personal notebooks/journals.

There were a lot of hurdles to take on the way due to lack of supplies over here and delays in deliveries, etc. but I did it and I am very happy with the outcome.

So far there are four different designs available. Each notebook contains 50 blank, white pages metal wire bound with a card board back side and a frosted polypropylene front cover on top of the patterned cover which is printed on archival inkjet paper. There is also a matching book mark.

Each notebook will be custom made and you can choose a name/word to be printed onto the label.

All notebooks can be found here.

Happy Thursday !

Feb 19, 2015

MATS Boot Camp February Assignment

Today I want to share Lilla Roger's MATS ( Make Art That Sells ) boot camp assignment for February with you.

In preparation for the main assignment we received the "mini" first. It said plate scenics...we should check out vintage plates with scenes on it. I loved it...having Pinterest boards for a while named "dishes/ceramics/glass" and "Scandinavian Art" I knew I had a lot gathered already to look at.

Last week the main assignment followed and it is wall art...with a twist.

The twist ?

As a "canvas" we should use a slice of wood and paint on it.

I knew this would be a challenge for me but I did not expect it to be this hard to find a slice of wood over here...I checked one well stocked craft store in Zuerich and I went across the border to check out a large craft store in Germany but did not find anything besides overpriced plywood which looked very boring to me. So I decided I have to go digitally and mock up my design onto a picture of a slice of wood. It worked...not the same experience but better than nothing.

The assignment was out of my comfort zone since we are talking about an illustration...and I have barely touched this topic since I had to do fashion illustration in school many, many years ago.

An illustration with a scene contains for me character...more than one and they should tell a story. Here was the next challenge for me...creating a character true to my style.

I did it and I am happy with the result, even though I did not make it a scene from my point of view but I was staying true to my style and I would hang my design onto my own wall.

February assignment MATS boot camp "Lady with a bird" by Pattern Jots

Happy Thursday !