Turning a doodle into a pattern

I’m going to start out with a less than remarkable doodle. Sometimes doodles really have zing! and you blink, shake your head and say, “Wow! How did this come out of that ho-hum meeting? ” Other times, I simply save them out of habit, or curiosity as to how I can fiddle with them and make something else.

The first pic is my original doodle. Then I fix it up, make it straight, refine a little in Photoshop Elements. I repeat the doodle for a full sheet of pattern.

I can use the pattern just like this, collage it onto my painting or quilt, then paint it whatever color/s I like. Or I can apply it to an appropriate background, placing the background behind my design and ending up with something like this:

The background is a photo I took of rust on a ship.

This process would make a wonderful workshop topic, which I would be happy to teach. Creating marks, doodling, fooling around, whatever you feel comfortable calling it . . . and then transforming the results into art papers that can be used in your work. You could also simply print out the black & white version and paint that, or use paintstiks, ink, whatever! Scan your results, and keep experimenting. It’s a bit like Alice down the rabbit hole: the adventure goes on and on! Time disappears. The wonderful difference is that when you ‘wake up,’ instead of disorientation, you have a bunch of original art papers!

Compulsive Doodling and the Patterns They Can Reveal . . .

It doesn’t matter how boring the meeting, how long the wait at the airport or doctor’s office, as long as I have a couple of good black pens and a small pad of paper, I am HAPPY! I love to doodle, and I have binders full of doodle designs to attest for that fact. At one of the workshops I attended, the instructor, trained as a fine artist, was appalled to hear the word doodling: drawing or sketching would be the correct terms. However, there is an effective psychological factor of not taking one’s self too seriously, which makes doodling not only acceptable, but preferable. I am an avid doodler: it makes me giggle just to say it!

So, you’re wondering, just what do I do with all those doodles?

I am soooo glad you asked. At one time, I made papier mache jewelry: earrings, brooches, special beads for small bags. Nowadays, I take them into Photoshop Elements and layer, repeat, flip, apply filters, paint new layers, and then start all over again! These results can be printed onto fabric or tissue paper, and become part of a new mixed media art quilt (MMAQ). They can also become the basis of painted tissue paper for collage, or stamps and stencils. I will post some examples, soon.

I have a pattern hero: this woman uses pattern masterfully. Her name is Anne Bagby. As she says:

I get my patterns from everywhere — fabric stores, wall paper and Dover books. The stamps are cut with lino-cutters using the v-tips. for small stamps, I use an exacto knife. I print layers of pattern, texture and glazes — watercolor first, then acrylic, brushes, squeeze bottles and sponges. This process produces a rich, complex surface.

What an inspiration for anyone who wants to use pattern effectively!

Of course, now I also have my small digital camera, as well, so I can collect images and subject them to the same treatment as the doodle, or combine them!

The fun just goes on and on and on . . . . .

New Year Yellows

People often talk of the blues when they are feeling down. So I picked a vibrant, exultant color that I think represents feeling up: yellow. I really like what Tammy had to say on her website: “No resolutions this year, but journaling on things I am grateful for, things I am claiming, and things I would like to accomplish.” Tammy says her word for the year is “sacred.” I joyfully concur.

1–I want to teach classes about art and creativity, which have been part of my life for decades now. I have presented at the Ontario Library Association (2 years in a row), and held creative sewing classes. For many years I gave private piano lessons. I have a teaching degree, am a professional librarian (MLIS) and a working artist, so I think this is a realistic and exciting goal.

2–I will share more of my techniques, and processes, trying to overcome a protective need to show only finished work. It can be risky showing works in progress, as you may regret having overworked a piece because you like an earlier version better! At a deeper level, exposing a work before it is finished can cause a loss of the energy needed to complete it. So I will have to monitor how this goes.

3–I will show my work, and sell it, every chance I get. I want to put it out in the world. Like children who have grown, I want to see how my art survives, how it develops, what effect it has. I am curious and expectant. I am ready to claim a different level of working and being.

4–I have so much to be grateful for, I don’t think I could ever stop writing if I wanted to get everything down. Number 1, my beloved, Ted: facilitator, mentor, friend. My children, who are intelligent, creative, and generous. My family, including a sister who shares the art addiction. My wonderful friends, who encourage and inspire me. My studio, and the time I have to create within it. Books: my lifelong teachers.

Blues be banished (the moods, of course, I adore every variation of the hue). This is my yellow year.