February Instagram Fave - Vanessa Amisano

I see lots of great things on Instagram and I follow tons of people, but Melbourne-based artist Vanessa Amisano's work really caught my eye. Her distinct style is vibrant and full of pattern which is of course, my jam.

I especially love her 100 girls project. I like how clean and simple her girls are yet also colorful and dynamic—each with a distinct style and personality. And their outfits! Don't you want to own these clothes?

Connecting with creative Instagram friends around the world is a wonderful thing that feeds my soul. Follow Vanessa's Instagram here. And check out her site for more in the coming weeks. 

 All images used with permission of the artist. © 2017 Vanessa Amisano

© 2017 Vanessa Amisano

Reflective Patterns

Some folks love either designing in repeat or putting designs into repeat, but I must admit it's not my favorite task. I'm much more of a free flow kind of person. But here is one easy way I can create a quick and interesting repeating pattern, that's different from the traditional square or half drop repeat. And if you are interested, you can watch a 15 minute video of me sketching what is to later become this beautiful decorative pattern.

WATCH HERE>

It's pretty amazing how simple it is and it's fun too!  It took me under an hour to create this pattern from start to finish. Of course I did a tiny bit of cleanup and if I were to do multiple colors, it would take longer, but after I did a live trace in Illustrator, I left the variations of gray because I liked the "antiqued" look that it created and that saved time.

Go to my Product Samples tab to see more reflective patterns that I have designed to be used as tablecloths.

Original scan

Clean up any gaps

So to start, fill a page in your sketchbook with a design—of anything! The key is to have shapes running off the edges and corners so that they will join when flipped horizontally and vertically. Keep this in mind as you are drawing and try to envision what will happen when they are reversed and joined. It makes for less clean up down the road.

Next bring your sketch into Photoshop and flip and copy the image both horizontally and vertically on the top, bottom and sides. You may need to fill in and do slight adjustments at this point if there are any gaps or strange seams (see image below left). 

That's it. You have yourself a cool reflective pattern that you can play with. Have fun! 

Flip horizontally and then vertically

Print & Pattern Blog Feature

I have a such hard time with self promotion—egad, it really is never easy to toot your own horn. But I have found that it is essential to know how to present and exert yourself in this industry. Self promotion is not a bad thing. It's about getting your name out there, showing what you can do and how you can be of service to others. I have submitted my work to numerous outlets in the hopes of expanding awareness of my brand and voice. It's a lot of work getting people to know who you are and what you can do. I'm making all of this work that I'm completely passionate about and I don't want to hide it away. I want to share it with the world! 

It's a wonderful feeling when you get little breakthroughs and today was a great one for me. I was thrilled to find out that I was featured on the Print & Pattern Blog. I appreciate any exposure and am happy to be amongst other creative people who share a common love for prints and patterns. Click image below to see the full article and all designs featured.

Cheers to all you creative folks out there. Keep doing what you do and please make sure to share it with the rest of us!