Pulling from previous works

On developing a portfolio, I thought I’d start with my fine art. I’ve painted a lot through the years, and captured most of my works digitally, so I have quite a library of source material. But how to take these works and make them into surface pattern designs?

I came up with a few different iterations, but what I’ve landed on which I think is awesome is using the paintings as a layer.

The example below, from the surface pattern design portfolio I’m entitling “Bazaar” – I took a clip from a watercolor painting of poppies I did some years back and made a repeating pattern. I then laid on top of it a complex outline sketch of floor mosaics inspired by some classic designs of the middle east.

I added some extra iterations in different colors:

I am also working on adding variations of scale, both in the background and the foreground layers.

When repeated, I think it creates a compelling visual that would be awesome in dress fabric. I’d buy that dress in all the colors. 😀