Handbags and Shoes and Surface Pattern Designing

Hi everyone
What a lovely day - lots of bright sunshine and warm too ! Ive been out on a run this morning and it was just magical - it was VERY early but only a couple of other runners and the birds were around. Im not necessarily an early riser and can't speak until about 7.30am at the earliest but it is a different world out there before most people are up and about.

Here we are with another Die Cut Friday and today Im taking a different tack with die cutting. Im using very small die shapes to create a surface pattern design. I've done this before but have not really given very much thought to how the pattern will work on different surfaces. my experience has been to simply make a background for paper with die cuts. This time, I want to consider using the finished pattern on a few different surfaces. My primary working surface will be a painting on wood and I want to print the pattern onto either fine cotton or paper cloth and then stick to the wood - not sure which (depends on how well it turns out !). The painting is Bernadette and I've chosen to use small shoes and handbags in appropriate colours. I plan to do a few versions of the surface pattern to choose from, so am preparing lots of shapes to work with. These are the shapes Im using :



Here is another look at Bernadette for reference. I think the shapes will work well with Bernadette's 'look'.



I've narrowed down her body design to include a coat with trousers and some shoes similar to the die cuts. This painting will be quite big - the head is only just short of a real head size. I like to play with proportions, so maybe the body will not be in proportion - lets see how it goes. Im not rushing this job although I will keep momentum and hope to complete a single (tiny) element each day (yet another strategy to my 'working style' !!).

I want the pattern to be useful for fabric production too and will have it printed up by Spoonflower when Im happy with it. I love the idea of wearing my patterns or images. I have some Miss Mitchell fabric which is almost a skirt - I started it last summer and didn't finish it - may be soon !!

Back to the die cut job : the colour scheme is orange, white and navy and I will try and keep this throughout. I have some ideas of the painting background being the surface pattern design completely or perhaps filling in a shape or landscape with the pattern. All will be revealed in time. My next task is to cut out lots more shapes and develop some patterns. I will make a small square (size will depend on the design) and create a digital image followed by a bit of photoshop work. I will then produce an A4 size sheet(s) in various colours for use with the painting. Im hoping the development of Bernadette will influence the pattern and vice versa. Im also planning to make a few different versions of the two bag styles and will make a larger version for Bernadette - I quite like the large one myself - maybe ? I think this project will last a few weeks so will report my progress next Friday - I should have quite a bit of progress to share next Friday.

That's it for today. Have a great weekend. Back next week.

Bye for now.