I love Jacobean patterns, they are so rich in details, have a flowing layout, and seem applicable to all sorts of uses. Usually, I hand draw all the motifs, ink them, scan them into the computer, and assemble the pattern in Illustrator, Photoshop, or both. Adding colour to the design occurs digitally using digital paintbrushes.
This time though, I decided to go "old school" and hand-paint the design using gouache. First, I drew the design in a repeating, grid block. The design was transferred to watercolour paper and painted using gouache. Once the painted repeating block was completed, it was scanned, and the image was imported into Photoshop. Here is a photo of a section of the scanned artwork; those greens were so bright!
Now the real "fun" started. Since this was hand-drawn and hand-painted, the block did not line up perfectly when it was put into repeat. This meant I had to go along the edges and realign the sections of motifs that cross the border to create a seamless repeat. Once that task was complete, I had to fiddle with the colours so that the digital image more closely resembled the actual painting. I also played around with different colours for the background before settling on a dark blue. Here is a photo of the completed design in a pillow mock-up,
Creating this repeating, hand-painted design was quite challenging, yet fun. Doing it "old school" made me also appreciate the technology we now have at our fingertips.
This design will soon be available on a variety of products in my Redbubble and Society6 shops, as well as on fabric through my Spoonflower shop.
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