Llew Mejia: Dazed and Confused

Hey everybody, whoever is looking if you are looking, thank you for paying attention to this blog, after this week it will be a whole year of making these patterns, which pretty much means a whole year since I graduated. Which is really depressing, even though I know I am not old I feel old...
either way, I will continue making a few patterns and I'm going to probably just put all these up on a separate tumblr for viewing pleasure.

This floral was dedicated to the Scopolamine flower, which if you have seen in the VICE doc about the plant, is insane. Basically it has in it a alkaloid that can be crushed up and dried out and blown into someone's face and then the person you use it on has to do what you tell them to do, and they black out the entire thing. In the documentary these dudes talk about how some tourists got robbed by using it and they even packed the entire car for the people robbing them, which isn't technically robbing... but anyway look for the doc on youtube, good stuff.

Llew Mejia: SNAKESS

So went to San Francisco for a few days, almost a week sort of, anyway one of the most beautiful cities out there. In America it might be a favorite for sure. But it was so great I forgot to post, so I made a pattern of some wildlife hanging out in the wilderness, mostly just jumping through stuff and hanging out. I bought a cat skeleton in San Francisco, so that was pretty awesome, little known fact I like to collect dead stuff, so I just have bones and other taxidermy around. Not morbid, just interested. Anyway, I don't have to defend myself just take a look at the pattern anyway.

Lindsay Nohl : Moss!

Never-ending little moss tufts!

Lindsay Nohl: Watercolor flowers at night

Full repeat

I started creating this pattern last night by playing with watercolors. I had done these guys in greyscale first and then decided to color them in the computer.
I wanted to make something that had a glowing look and that was reminiscent of a field with fireflies, without actually drawing fireflies.


Detail

It's getting closer and closer to spring and I can't wait until it's nice enough to go outside and see some real flowers. It's funny. I draw foliage so frequently, yet it's been a long while since I've gotten to see greenery around my neighborhood! Soon. Soon.

Llew Mejia: Bo-kays

As per usual I be experimentin' and stuff, took some style pointers from my girl Alyssa, and went into smash mode. Really pretty simple, buncha girly bouquets half dropped and then filled in, got a bunch of ferns all up in there too for you all, maybe a Hummingbird Moth which is pretty awesome if you have ever seen one, you can confuse them with the bird. It's obvious that the moth mimicry of the bird was an evolutionary survival technique. Alright that's about all I have to say today.

Lindsay Nohl : Venus Flytrap

Detail

I spent the whole weekend sketching and this Venus Flytrap is one of the sketches that I was really proud of. It's done with graphite and then colored in Photoshop. I was thinking this one should be pretty subtle since it's particularly line-heavy.

On Friday I was hanging out with a couple friends and one asked to see my sketchbook. I don't know about you, but it's really hard for me to actually let people look through my sketchbooks. Half of what I've got in there is embarrassing -- for various reasons... and the other half are notes that I'd rather not show to anyone. I tried (as politely as I could) to decline, and felt super awkward just sitting there, clutching it to myself, holding on to it for dear life. You know when you're practicing drawing and you draw the same thing over and over? Or when you're not sure what you're even sketching... just making lines all over a page? Well, my sketchbook is full of those things. That, and a zillion notes that I've written about everything I'm thinking, doing, or wanting to do. Sort of a diary, I suppose.

I am still trying to feel good about sharing my sketchbook with other people, but for now, I just show the pieces I think are ok online. The rest I'm keeping for myself.


Full Repeat

Tiffany Designs: Lil' Flowers

I am excited to be part of the 101 floral challenge. I love creating floral patterns in bright vibrant colours. I have an Art School background. I have recently undertaken all three modules of a ground breaking surface pattern design course, run by surface pattern designer Rachael Taylor and Beth Nicole's. My work has been chosen to be featured in the new kickstarter funded book patternbase which will be published in 2013. My work has been featured on many online blogs such as http://www.majobv.com/ on Print and Pattern http://printpattern.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/new-work-tiffany-designs_15.html and Do What you Love and on Rachael Taylors blog. I am a guest blogger for Tigerprint. My own blog is at http://tiffanydesignspattern.blogspot.co.uk/ if you want to find out more about me or just to look at more of my work

Llew Mejia: OCCULTY

So, been experimenting with some illustrator styles, also on the cmyk flavor...
Just super rando, reminds me of some pinatas gettin busted open, cray cray confetti everywhere, you know, the movie Holy Mountain. That movie is the "like the way you work it,,,, no diggity, i like to bag it, bag it up" Or whatever they say on that nineties song... Not sure what the lyrics really are, but you all know what I am talking about and don't even act like you don't. Also back to Holy Mountain, one of the greatest movies ever made, saw it once when I was like 18, still talking about it now. Pretty mind blowing stuff, all sorts of goodies, if your'e into occult stuff, it's chalk full of it.

Lindsay Nohl : Vintage Floral

I have this great old wallpaper book from the turn of the century that has this massive cabbage roses in just a couple colors. I had been looking through it last week for inspiration and came across this mustard and green color combination. I'm absolutely amazed at how beautiful vintage patterns are. It's apparent how much preparation and time went into creating them.

It's no wonder I'm a vintage paper addict.

I have been doing some complex patterns lately and decided that this week I'd do something a little more quiet. I created this one with ink on paper first, with a linen texture overlay on top -- and colored it up!

Llew Mejia: Creepy Charles

Trying some more experimentation, making something to look more screen printed, I really want to make some risograph prints as mailers, but we will see what happens. Anyway it was a pretty good experience making something with no pressure, kinda just thought about how I thought Creeping Charlie should look like and plopped it in with various other semi-fictional plants.

 Let the good times roll!

Lindsay Nohl: Creeping Charlie

Here's the mini view of this huge pattern I made tonight.

When I first got my cat, Oliver, I had named him several things before something stuck. Charlie was one of the names that was high on the list. Oliver is, by far, the creepin'-est of cats, and as I was making this pattern tonight I thought for a second that it would have been very fitting had I named him Charlie.

I don't know why I labored over this pattern so much tonight, but I'm glad I did because I really like the way it turned out. It started as a complex sketch and turned into a giant winding beast. I took some liberties with the actual colors of Creeping Charlie - and I'm surprised I did because I am usually all about putting purple all over my artwork. But there was something really sinister about having red veins for vines -- and so it goes.


Here's a little close-up of the artwork

Majo Bv: Animal Floral

Hi!

 I'm so excited to be part of the 101 Florals challenge... yes, challenge because I'm not much of a flower person. The truth is, I'm terribly and utterly scared of bees and wasps, and flowers attract them so I try to be as far as I can from them. When Llew emailed me to tell me I could be part of their adventure, he also asked me what flower I wanted to work on. I had no idea... tulips came to mind 'cause I had recently received them, but he told me they had already done them. I needed to think, think fast.

 Then it came to me... succulent plants really enchant me. Their shapes are so organic and chubby and some are even protective (think of cacti). I googled succulent plants and the first image that came out was one of these cute tubby mini trunks (fenestraria), and I just felt it had to be my first inspirational subject. I searched for more images and discovered it wasn't one of the typical species you think of when you think of succulent plants: it has flowers and they look quite like daisies only smaller and with thinner petals.

 After the image research I started sketching, and what attracted me the most of all the pics I found is the way fenestrarias look from the top view: their pyramidal trunks create a beautiful pattern when looked form above. My final pattern kind of looks like simplified leopard spots, which I don't really mind: it's hard to come up with a new version of animal prints and I think I just did while actually working on a floral print (lol). Anyway... I hope you all like it. Let me know what you think about it with a comment (comments always make me smile).

 If you want to know more about me or look at some more of my work, just check my blog or my portfolio :) Have a lovely day and see you when I see you!

Lindsay Nohl : Succulent Cuttings

Keeping it simple today!
I had a great trip to the Como Conservatory today with Chris and it was AWESOME! Man, I have been craving some living plant-action!
It's been so white outside and it seemed like a nice Sunday outing. I did a couple tiny drawings this morning while I was at this new coffee house near my house, Parka and just ran with them for this pattern.

I was making loads of little terrariums last summer and I was having flashbacks when I was making this pattern. I really ought to do that again. I think I just might!

I usually frown at white backgrounds on patterns but for some reason this one just felt right. I had this one a couple other colors before I finally just left it alone. So here you have it! Little tiny cuttings from some of my favorite succulents!

(I'm also channeling some 70s art vibe in here. Inspired by a pic I saw earlier today while I was in a used bookstore near my house!)

Cam Floyd: Plants & Such

 Cam Floyd is a really great illustrator, although his site contains limited material at the moment I can assure you, this guys got a ton of great work and definitely worth checking out. His work hits a lot of sci-fi notes for me, with a color palette that I wouldn't readily choose, but he boldly uses it and makes it work. So it's awesome and really great to have him on the blog.

 Check out more of his work here!

Llew Mejia: Islamic Ferns

I have been wanting to try one of these types of patterns for a long time and when I finally attempted it I think I can pull it off better next time with a lil bit more planning. That's just not usually how I roll, so this is what came out, still cool in a kaleidoscope kinda way. Either way this type of geometric pattern is really popular in Islamic architecture, and any sort of patterning that they do at all usually is built off of octagons. I thought it would be a little more complex, but really when it comes down to it, it's all just a buncha triangles, so just try it! haha get it? no? ok...

Lindsay Nohl : Fern Linens

I have been wanting some new kitchen towels and I made this linen-y pattern with them in mind. Ahhh I wish they were real!
I was inspired by two new shops in the Minneapolis area -- Forage and Parka. One is a really cute furniture shop that sells a lot of local and hand-crafted furniture (nice, mid-century inspired stuff!) and the other is a new cafe with awesome coffee. Both shops are minimalist and really nice -- lots of natural colors plus white.

I got the chance to sit down and really take a look at ferns with this pattern, too, which, if you haven't had a chance to look at one closely, are super crazy. They're amazing -- or as Chris would say "They're natures fractals".

Nicky Ovitt: Lil Garden

Nicky is a surface designer who has had many a big client, she had an interest in the blog, so I gladly let her participate! She made a little scene of rats or mice and the amaryllis as well coincidentally!

For more of her work check out her site,  also blog, otherwise,

Here' some info about her:

Today I enjoy a thriving freelance career providing illustrated and graphic patterns and prints to private label and retail clients. For a decade I was employed as an in-house designer/manager at a successful manufacturer of apparel and accessories specializing in lifestyle brands.

Llew Mejia: KANG KO BRAHS

 Had some fun with this one, haven't done a pattern in my personal style in awhile, kinda rhymes. Anyway, made some cobras, drew some mice, made a Dr. Seuss type world for them all to live in together along with weird pipette style flowers that shoot out of the ground, because if you have seen these flowers in nature they are real real weird.
They just pop out of the ground in clusters, and they actually get relatively tall, a lot of Mom's get them as gifts around now and winter because they do well as houseplants, they bloom and then they look like they die then a couple months later, BAM! YUP, new flower, bet you thought it was dead...WRONG.

Lindsay Nohl: Abstracted Amaryllis

I received an amaryllis bulb from a co-worker back in the day and it would bloom once every year and then sink back into it's pot and appear to be dead until the next year. I always thought it was funny. As I was researching this one I kept thinking of how weird it was that all of the blooms come out of one stalk. All of the sketches I was doing looked strange, and after thinking about it for a while I decided to create an abstracted 6-blossom version from the top down. (I realize this isn't entirely accurate, whoops). Still, I was happy to make something that looks like I had a bunch of little twigs and curly doo-dads falling from the sky.

I always make my patterns at night, so they also all seem to have some kind of dark quality to them. Maybe it's that combined with the darkness of winter. I'm looking forward to the sun staying out longer and longer in the next month. It's exciting to have a little bit of sunshine still going on when I leave work!

Jon Suguiyama: Lil' Eyeballs

Jon is a crazy talented artist, some of his illustration work is rendered in such a unique way I don't really know how he got there. Which I think is really awesome, when I can look at someones work and just be surprised about how they executed something. Either way, this pattern is on a less rendered note, but still really cool because it would work really well as a fashion print, just by the way it moves your eyes around...no pun intended! Check out more of his work so you can see what I am talking about.

Llew Mejia: G-G-G-G-G-unit

And when I say g-unit I mean Guarana unit, because that's what they are little units on a tree, anyway these are a really sick plant. In real life they look a lot like little eyeballs encapsulated by some red eyelids. I like that. And to make it even better they come in clusters of like twenty lil berries, all of them peepin' at you creepily, yes I am personifying this plant, what of it. Alright well enjoy my post, another experimental...

Lindsay Nohl: Clusters

Clusters of Guarana Berries

I was inspired by vintage wallpaper and a weekend trip to H&M. I think I've been seeing this tomato red color everywhere and I absolutely LOVE it. In fact, I tried to convince Chris to buy some pants this color. It's cheery and vibrant and I think it may be one of my new favorite colors.


And here's it repeated!

Alison Tauber: Pink Pineapple

Alison is a great surface designer, her patterns are really awesome and you should all go check out more of her work! I really like how the pattern is a mix between an ogee and a damask, it's pretty awesome, well this is a quickie!

Llew Mejia: Pina Coladas

So I have been experimenting a lot with many different styles lately, and this time I was trying to make something similar to a certain swedish textile designer, I will see if you guys get it on your own. But usually his fabrics are done on a press so there's a sort of offset effect he gets with his work that also contributes to the overall color scheme, which is really hard to replicate on a computer screen.

Anyhow it was a long and arduous process of coloring and separating each piece and then combining them to make a winding tree like forest effect, although this isn't what a pineapple tree looks like, this is my personal interpretation, maybe a little more whimsical than the real thing...

eat sum pineappy!

Lindsay Nohl: Making Progress on Pineapples

Progress on the color so far! - Second layer of blues layered in

Ok, so I decided to go for something super complex this time - not really in the way that the pattern is made, but the technique that I'm using to paint it. I'm trying watercolor out for the first real time since high school and it's been... interesting.
I wanted to show you a little bit of what I'm working on though it isn't a repeating pattern quite yet.

I have plans for a Damask pattern -- as you can see I'm working on the diamond shape right now. I've set it up so it'll be fairly easy to repeat once I have the whole painting complete. I'll just have to tile it up and let it go!

It's been exciting. I've been making this while watching Discovery Channel documentaries on mount Everest (thrilling and terrifying!) and plugging away at it after I teach night class. I don't think I have much left to do, but once I get it finished up, I'll make sure to post it!

Just for fun you can see a little bit of my coloring process here!


First Layer of Blues


Preliminary Underpainting