Category Archives: Spoonflower

Caught up – 30 In 30

Day 4, 5, 6, and 7

So much for getting ahead. Maybe next time I will use 3 or 4 layers, instead of 158. Just kidding. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to go light, or dark for the final pieces.

This little series is based on the themes of love and the human condition. I am going to submit artwork to be published in Bradford G. Wheler’s book – LOVE SAYINGS: wit & wisdom of romance, courtship, and marriage.

For “LOVE SAYINGS” he is looking for original artwork and photography that in some way relates to love and the human condition. Artists who would like to be considered can sign up at bookcollaborative.com.

I have paintings in two of Brad’s earlier books. You can see them here, and here.

I haven’t decided on titles for these yet. Any ideas? Home is where the heart is, love on the rocks, heart of mine. Love grows (where my Rosemary goes). I always think in song or movie titles.

I will be painting more on this theme. But I think, it is time for some watercolor.

Acrylic and pen on gallery wrapped canvas. 4 x 4. © 2014 Sheila Delgado

It’s too bad the copper does not show more in the photos, it looks great, just bits here and there that catch the light. Today was a good day! Six of my fabric designs sold today at Spoonflower! Woo Whoo!

Tons of amazing art to be seen!

Make It In Design Summer School – Brief Two

6 Replies

This week my design time was drastically reduced. I participated in a Creative Live course with Bonnie Christine of Going Home to Roost. Her class was a blast. Really intense. Three full days on Illustrator and surface pattern design. More on that in a bit.

I only had three days to complete my designs for the MIID assignments. I was determined to complete them all, so I had to simplify. K.I.S.S. Keep it simple, stupid.

Make It – Beginner

Tribal Shapes, MIID. Beginner Brief 2, © 2014 Sheila Delgado

For the Beginner theme, Tribal Shapes, I came up with this basic repeat. I knew that I would incorporate it in the Tribal Collage for the advanced assignment.

MIID Beginner Brief 2 details

I added lines to mimic a woven fabric, and then I erased them partly for a worn look. I used a second brush to add splotches of color.

Make It – Intermediate

MIID Intermediate Brief 2, © 2014 Sheila Delgado

Animal Print was the intermediate theme. I felt the need for steed. My original thought was to do some sort of quilted pattern of just hides. But then I thought about those terrible 70’s patchwork purses, and I just couldn’t go that route. I am not sure this is better. Animal prints in general are just not favorites of mine.

Faux horse hide

I added the same texture details, thinking of nubby old blankets, or an old itchy rug. I do like how the details turned out, but they do not translate well on screen, and I am not really sure they are visible in MIID gallery pages. I also completed the required product mock-up for this, and I really like how it looks in use.

Mock up, MIID Intermediate Brief 2

Make It – Advanced

Tribal Collage, the advanced assignment, brought these elements together. I did this pattern in about six hours. Right up against the deadline.

MIID Advanced details

So tell me what you think. Did I take the texture too far, or not far enough?

MIID Advanced Brief 2, © 2014 Sheila Delgado

Design Surface Patterns From Scratch With Bonnie Christine

So amazing! Bonnie is a terrific teacher and she is so generous in sharing all she knows. To anyone interested in learning pattern design, I highly recommend this class. The instruction in Illustrator was geared specifically for pattern design. I have worked in Photoshop, honestly, because learning Illustrator seemed daunting.

Bonnie made it look so easy, she explained each step. I had planned on creating my MIID designs in Illustrator, because I was short on time I stuck with Photoshop. You know, learning curve.

But I am tackling Illustrator this weekend. Bonnie’s assignment is to create a six piece pattern collection. FUN!!

Enjoy your weekend!

Make It In Design Summer School – Brief 1

16 Replies

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-sheets First 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 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 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 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

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.

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!