Pattern Development - White Floral Holiday

September 5, 2024

The holiday season brings with it so much inspiration, from the vibrant greens of winter foliage to the deep reds of berries and the soft whites of snow. I wanted to capture that festive, cozy feeling with hand-painted watercolor motifs that come together in a beautiful botanical pattern.

I started with simple watercolor paintings of holiday botanicals, removed the background in Procreate, and then opened them in Photoshop to create the repeat pattern.

Follow along in this 1 minute video as I work through the process of arranging the motifs. I’m considering color, scale, shape, and flow.

TIP: After I finished the video, I added a slight stippled texture in the ground. Textural backgrounds help watercolor motifs to blend with the ground color rather than appearing to sit on top of a flat ground.

If you struggle to create great watercolor pattern designs, let me know the areas that trip you up. I will try to address them in future posts.

Start by downloading this #freebie, 5 Tips for Watercolor Pattern Design. This PDF download will help you get started making great designs with watercolor motifs.

Color Palette - Coleus Fall Colors

August 28, 2024

Show of hands, who isn’t amazed by Coleus? It is weird, infinitely varied, fast growing, and hardy. What’s not to love?

Coleus flowers are thought to help calm the mind and promote peaceful thoughts. They are said to bring good luck and are used in meditation settings.

I’m sure you can agree they are captivating. Spending time admiring or studying them, or just observing their color and pattern takes your mind from its worries.

The purple coleus above really caught my eye this year. The combination with the multiple greens and red browns nearby creates a perfect unique fall palette. I explored these colors in a few of my patterns and I believe this palette to be a keeper : )

Get the color swatch file HERE

I’m including the .ASE color swatch file here for anyone who signs in to my newsletter. Once you download the palette file, check this post for a quick video tutorial on uploading colors to your favorite design software, Blog Fall Color 2024 Download.

Check out the designs I have recolored using this palette. I’m in love.

Let me know what you think of the palette in the comments below.

If you post any images on IG that use the palette, please tag me so I can share your success in my stories, @janethilddesign.

Finding Color Inspiration

August 21, 2024

My daughter has a passion for nail art. Her nail polish colors line the wall of her little studio space. Her colors range from white through the entire rainbow of bright and pastel colors right through to black. It’s much more extensive than my paint palettes!

Fun Fact: I have never liked nail polish on my fingers but love my toe nails to be painted a fun color.

I created a palette of paint colors from my favorite group of polish colors. Interestingly my nails are mostly adorned in blue tones: blue, blue-green, coneflower blue, navy.

Upon recognizing that, I pulled up some sea life patterns I have in my files and recolored using this new nail polish palette. They are fun and work well with the simple shapes of the seahorses, shells, crabs, and jellyfish.

I hope you enjoy viewing all the color options of this mini collection. Take a moment to tell me in the comments:

Where have you found an unusual source for a new color palette?