Creativity Corner Sketchbook Explorations

patterns patterns patterns

March 22, 2012

As mentioned in my previous post, here are some sketches and drawings taken from some of my small sketchbooks. My big passion is colour and patterns and i always try and come up with some form of mark making that will translate into a pattern. So, without further ado, i hope you enjoy some of these. I hope they might inspire a colour combination or just make you smile. Happy spring everyone!

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24 Comments

  • Reply Nicola March 22, 2012 at 7:49 pm

    Wow Tina, amazing work. Did you ever consider reproducing some as textiles or on paper? Must be so inspiring to look through it all.

    Did you see this today about Moleskines? You must have inspired them into action…..http://lifeandtimes.com/write-and-exact

    • Reply tina March 23, 2012 at 7:20 am

      You know I’ve often thought what would my life have been like if I had studied Textile Design instead of Graphic Design. In a way I’m happy it turned out like this. Graphic Design was a great stepping stone into all design. I love that I’ve moved to do Interior Design now.

      I met Russell Sage a couple of weeks ago and he talked about how he changed from a career in Fashion Design to now running a very successful Interior Design Studio. I love that creatives can move into different Design disciplines.

      I’ve often dreamed about seeing my patterned drawings as textiles…. maybe one day?

      Thank you for the GREAT link. Really enjoyed reading it. I really like how Marco Beghin describes the Moleskine notebooks as a platform for creativity. That’s what they are. Uniform and subtle in the background for everyone to put their own mark on them. Great quality and genius marketing.

      Thank you Nicola x

  • Reply Lauren March 22, 2012 at 8:31 pm

    Gorgeous, Tina! A feast for the eyes! I assume you’ve heard of spoonflower.com (although I don’t know if they ship internationally), where you can have your designs printed onto fabric?

    • Reply tina March 23, 2012 at 7:23 am

      Thanks Lauren. No, hadn’t heard of them. Thank you so much for the link. I did come across something similar a while ago but think I never even thought about my own drawings appearing on fabric. Food for thought. Who knows, you girls might have unleashed something here. Ta…

  • Reply Catherine Bedson March 22, 2012 at 10:41 pm

    Hi Tina,
    I love colour as well and these patterns have definitely inspired me and brightened my day.

    Catherine

    • Reply tina March 23, 2012 at 7:24 am

      Catherine, welcome back. Have you finished your studies. Must take a look to see wether you’ve resumed blogging. Glad the drawings brightened your day:)

  • Reply Holly March 22, 2012 at 11:25 pm

    Like it’s already been said, I think fabrics could be a fun project too! That’s what instantly entered my thoughts as I was scrolling down. These patterns are really great – So alive, so colourful, so TINA! Thank you for sharing some glimpses into your sketch books – I’ve been patiently waiting. These have definitely made me smile 🙂

    Xx.

    • Reply tina March 23, 2012 at 7:27 am

      It still feels strange to put any of my work online.

      I notice it when I press: publish. I somehow disassociate myself from it until I receive comments and then it comes alive. Weird.

      Thank you my love. My drawings are really small so not sure how they’d translate but will look into it. Thank you everyone for the encouragement:)

  • Reply Theresa March 23, 2012 at 4:32 am

    Really beautiful colors and patterns. I especially love the tiny handwriting in different directions and colors. Thank you for opening up your sketchbooks and sharing these with us. I know for me, I’m always nervous about sharing my personal work. Have these sketches gone on to inspire some design in your home? For instance, I was thinking some of those sketches looked similar to the upholstery in your home. Anyway, really beautiful, Tina.

    • Reply tina March 23, 2012 at 7:31 am

      You know T, I don’t think that any particular sketches have directly inspired my interiors but I believe that we store all this information subconsciously anyway. So, yes when I look at colour and patterns I am acutely aware…

      I kind of miss doing more drawings these days. Life is so hectic with Social Media and running a business. Having said that, the good news is that I take so many photographs for my blog so have a wealth of material to inspire me.

      Thank you for your continued encouragement of my personal work. I hope to see more of yours. I so enjoyed your post about your hand-made greeting cards.

  • Reply Chi @ Carousel March 23, 2012 at 9:06 am

    I love these, Tina – so bold, vibrant and graphic! I scrolled down intending to mention Spoonflower (as I think they’ll look great on household textiles) but I see a couple of people have already mentioned it. 🙂

    Second career or a sideline, perhaps? Not that you need one with your packed schedule but I, rather selfishly, would love to own fabrics designed by you! ;D

    P.S. You can now respond to individual comments – hooray! Nice touch. Wish I had that feature on my blog.

    • Reply tina March 24, 2012 at 12:15 am

      Thank you Chi.

  • Reply Erin March 23, 2012 at 2:48 pm

    First of all, your handwriting is fabulous!! I love looking at people’s handwriting, and yours is really lovely. It actually looks a bit like mine, I’m realizing, which sounds like I’m just complimenting myself but I swear I’m not! We write a lot of our letters similarly.

    And can I just say I admire your commitment to color? I’d never think to just take a sketchbook and doodle and fill in pages with color and shapes and such bold and pretty drawings as you have. It’s such an obvious creative outlet that for some reason has never occurred to me! What a great treasure trove of drawings you have now. I bet you can look back at any of them and be instantly transported back to the time in your life when you made it. That’s so magical!

    • Reply tina March 24, 2012 at 12:10 am

      Ha. I know you were not blowing your own trumpet:)

      Thank you. I don’t much draw these days and I miss it. I have a whole art shop of materials so there is really no excuse.

      I’ve been thinking of setting myself a challenge but we’ll see.

      You’re right, one of them I did on a flight back from Istanbul as we had to circle in the air for about 2 hours…

  • Reply caroline March 24, 2012 at 9:36 pm

    Fabulous collection lovely! I think you should keep posting your work-it’s FAB! :)x

    • Reply tina March 25, 2012 at 5:21 pm

      Thank you lovely! That really encouraging. I will try and stay brave!!!

  • Reply annie March 25, 2012 at 7:51 am

    I think what strikes me is how much time this must all have taken! It looks like it was a lot of fun and helps to concentrate the mind.

    And as Theresa says, there is so much clarity between what you’ve done here and your home, that’s really nice to see, means your home is 100% you.

    • Reply tina March 25, 2012 at 5:25 pm

      Ah, concentrate the mind. That’s what we were discussing over at Theresa’s. I think you have a point. I like anything that is therapeutic and makes you concentrate and focus.

      Yes, they did take a long time and I’d love to take it up again. Of course, with blogging, a lot of free time has vanished. Who knows, I’m getting better at pre-planning so let’s see.

      I do believe anything we ever do stays with us in the subconscience so it must be like you girls say. My flat is very me, that’s for sure. And that’s really important to me in terms of interiors.

  • Reply Sam Lennie (Interiorsam) March 26, 2012 at 5:12 pm

    Beautiful Tina, you clearly have A LOT of patience and self discipline. Just looking at your little squares filling the page, I’d have got bored on the 10th,11th square and if I kept going, they’d have definitely got bigger and bigger.

    I think it’s a challenge in itself to completely fill a page and leave no white page spare.

    You have lovely tidy writing too 🙂

    Thank you for sharing

    • Reply tina March 27, 2012 at 9:38 am

      Ha Ha. That’s funny. You probably said what most thought:) Yes, I do have a lot of patience. Getting bored on the 10th, 11th square shows me this kind of drawing IS NOT FOR YOU:)

      Talking about white spaces. I think it’s my weakness to fill a page. I don’t seem to know where to stop. It’s fine with patterns but in general, leaving white spaces often enhances the design and I struggle with this!

      Honestly, I miss writing by hand. All I seem to do is type on computer, iPad & iPhone these days. Always loved Calligraphy x

  • Reply Jennifer March 29, 2012 at 5:51 am

    I think I see an Etsy shop in your future! I had no idea you were an artist as well – I love all the bright colors and the use of geometric shapes..looks like some of that work must have taken awhile!

    • Reply tina March 29, 2012 at 8:39 am

      Ha. Not sure about being an artist. I never consider myself that:) Etsy shop. Hmmmm? I just think there are such lovely things sold on Etsy that I can’t imagine anyone wanting to buy anything I make…
      but thank you, very kind of you to say so.

  • Reply Heather @ Canal Notes April 2, 2012 at 12:59 pm

    Tina – you’re just so creative! I loved seeing all these colorful designs – I think the handwriting is my favorite! Such attention to detail and I love all the colors. I am very restrained in my own use of color, but I love seeing others use it with such abandon!

    • Reply tina April 2, 2012 at 1:37 pm

      Awww. I’m blushing. Thanks love. Must admit I am very fond of the handwriting ones… the thing to try with colour restraint is to let loose by doing something that holds no meaning. Just mess around on a page and you’ll soon loose that fear! x

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