We watched the 1963 Cleopatra a few weeks back, and while it isn't the most amazing movie ever made, it is visually amazing, and while I was watching I was sketching. Specifically, I was sketching robots for my illustrator class, but found myself sketching shapes and textures I saw in the background of the film, and from there, designed a ballerina robot. The feathers of the costume are based on either a headdress that Elizabeth Taylor wore, or some sort of plant that was on screen for a few moments, I'm not sure.
This isn't the final version, but you get the idea... |
The disc shaped flower, that is, not the daisy style one, or the lollipop. |
My first attempt was to rearrange the motifs into a diamond, and I added this new shape for a focal point:
Repeating it looks like this:
I decided it was better, but not entirely finished. Then, I thought, well, maybe a blue background?
Which I like even better. And OMG is changing colors a million times easier in Illustrator than in Photoshop!
But not being entirely satisfied, I went back to sketching:
And realized one issue with the design is that my disc flower are too long and skinny instead of fat. So, they're newly drafted, with more complex stems. Then I tried more of a scatter approach to laying the motifs out on a four by four grid. But it's not a true scatter because it's a one way design. (And you can see that the star was really two cacti stuck together.)
The tiling is shifted in what is called (at least on Spoonflower) a half drop.
I like it well enough, the flower certainly has improved. I'm not saying I'm done with it, maybe I'll never be done with it(!) but I just wanted to show some process... or progress?
Fascinating post. I love your design and would buy it in any stage.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing what a difference changing the background made. Do you have a version of the diamonds with the blue background and more red elements? Just curious ;)
ReplyDeleteI really like the cacti!
Beautiful work!
ReplyDelete