From Doodle to Pattern: Swirling Bursts

Hello Wonderful Readers!

It has been a long time since I have had a new post.  I am hoping to share more regularly in 2016.  To kick things off, here is a look at my next Spoonflower contest entry and a peek into my process of turning a doodle into a seamless pattern.  The theme for this latest contest was only a color palette:  Gray, Cream, Cucumber and Peach (exact shades were chosen by Spoonflower).  Since there was no other theme than the colors themselves, it was a perfect time for me to enter an abstract design.  If you follow me on Instagram, you may remember my Throwback Thursday series where I shared pages from my many doodle books.  For this contest I chose one of my most favorite doodles which also happened to be the first doodle page I shared.  I love how this doodle has a lot of movement and energy.

Here is a look at the doodle side by side with the final pattern:

Creating a repeating pattern is an extra challenge when you begin with a design that is already in a rectangular format with a lot of dense detail.  To achieve the seamless pattern I wanted, I worked back and forth between Photoshop and hand drawing to expand the tile size and repeat and add elements to create a pattern that would be complex and integrated enough not to appear boxy when repeated.

Here is a look at that process.  In this photo you can how I printed a portion of the in progress pattern, still with gaps, so that I could do some more hand drawing to fill in the space.

Once I finished filling in all the gaps and creating a seamless pattern in Photoshop, I next imported the design elements into Illustrator, traced them, and then began the long clean-up process to create crisp, smooth, beautiful elements.  I also waited to colorize the drawing until it was converted to a vector file.  Coloring this design was the most challenging aspect.  There was not a lot of contrast between the colors in the designated palette and I wanted to make sure that all the detail work of the hatched curves wouldn't be lost when viewing at a zoomed out scale.  We were allowed to also included black and white in addition to the 4 colors and I ended up using both in order to help the elements pop.

Here is a look at the final pattern:



I would love your VOTE this week!  (One voting session per person, but feel free to vote for as many designs as you wish)  Thanks!!!
And if you are interested in seeing this and many of my other designs You can find this design in my Spoonflower Shop.

Inspired by Butterflies and Doodles

I am happy to share about a new collection in the works in my Spoonflower Shop, created for the Butterfly Coordinates contest. 

I love designing collections, imagining how the different patterns can mix and match and come to together, so this one was right up my alley.  For the butterfly theme I knew I wanted to start with a butterfly doodle I had done many years ago in one of my many doodle books. 

I created vector versions of the butterflies and then arranged them into a seamless pattern.  Originally I planned on adding the mini butterflies you can see in the doodle, but after filling some of the design voids with them it looked too busy.  That is one of the interesting things about converting a doodle to a workable pattern, what might look interesting as a stand-alone art piece might not work as well in a different format.  I really wanted the main butterflies to stand out, and the little fillers ended up being too much.  Here is a look at the finished main print:  Butterfly Party.

Butterfly Party by Brenda Zapotosky

I did use some of the mini butterflies to create the coordinate print:  Delicate Delights. 
I wanted this print to act as a neutral so kept the color palette to just three hues.

Delicate Delights by Brenda Zapotosky

The other two coordiantes do not use butterflies, but rather bring in other elements that compliment butterflies, gardens, and summertime.  Picnic is a bright and happy geometric print.  Flutter Flowers is a funky floral inspired by the shapes of butterflies:  wings, spots and antennae. 

Picnic and Flutter Flowers by Brenda Zapotosky

The four prints together are a great mix of scale, color and shape!

Throwback Thursday Doodle Book Project: PART ONE

Before I was an illustrator or a surface pattern designer I was a doodler.  I am not talking about random scribbles that adorn the sides of notebook pages (although I have certainly done my fair share of those).  Back in college I began a filling sketchbooks specifically with doodles: black and white abstract prints and designs, often with a defining theme, but sometimes completely random.  For the past year I have been sharing these doodles on my Instagram feed, one per week, as a Throwback Thursday exercise.  I have always loved getting feedback and opinions from others about my doodles, especially since the particular designs a person is drawn to, seems to vary greatly, and are often not the ones I hold as personal favorites.  In school, I could pass a doodle book around the classroom.  But now, with the joy of social online sharing, my doodles can be seen by a whole new audience!  It has been very interesting to see which doodles garnered the most likes, and just like back in college, it is often a surprise to me which doodles tend to be popular. After I completed a full 52 weeks of doodle book posts I tallied the current heart numbers (which have already changed as new likes have accumulated) to arrive at the top 9 most liked designs.  Here were the winners:

For PART TWO of this Project I want to take some of the designs and turn them into repeatable patterns.  I decided to enlist the help of my followers again to see which of the 9 designs were the most popular. I shared the photo list on Instagram as well as my Facebook Page and a few other Facebook places, asking friends and fans to choose one or more as their favorites.  Interestingly, the votes were very wide spread, and while there were 2 clear winners, they did not win by much.  3rd place was a 5-way tie and the final 2 designs tied for 4th (and each had only one vote less than the 3rd place designs).  Clearly this was not a landslide win. Here are the first and second place winners.

First Place Winner

Second Place Winner

I am excited to turn these two designs into seamless patterns.  I love problem solving and the process of converting hand drawn sketches into vector repeats is one that I find challenging and fun.  I have decided to begin with the 2nd place winner, since it has less complicated hatch and will be easier (although not easy) to do.  I have already begun and I am loving how it looks already!  Stay tuned for PART TWO, where I will share the finished patterns!

Beach Bliss: Sandcastles and More

Summertime in Ohio is in full swing (despite the fact that it has not officially started yet date-wise) and beach days are here!  I am excited to share a few new designs I have developed for my brand-new Beach Bliss Collection in my Spoonflower Shop.  Inspired by the latest contest theme:  Sandcastles, my designs were created with hand-drawn elements and soothing, beachy colors.  For my sandcastle design, I decided to work with a "kit of parts": various shaped buckets, that combined in different ways, create interesting castles.  To decorate my castles, I used shells, pebbles, and other beach finds, as if someone were pulling these together on the beach!  For my "Pebbles" coordinates I had beach house décor in mind.  I think they would look lovely as curtains or throw pillows!  I have some ideas for other coordinates too, so look out for this collection to grow in the future. 



Available now in my Spoonflower Shop

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meandering Mermaids Swimming in your Direction!

It has been a while since I shared about a Spoonflower contest, even though I have been entering them quite often. So here is my entry, for the Mermaid themed contest.  The objective for this contest was to design a print with girl's pajamas in mind, and the theme was mermaids.  I am not the biggest mermaid lover, but I liked the pajama aspect and the prize is an extra good one, so I decided to join in.  There were many design restrictions for the this contest, which were a nice challenge to work within, especially in the color department (since the tones I picked are outside my normal color box).  I am very happy with the result:  pretty, almost retro looking mermaids, with long swirly hair which is mimicked by the white swirls in the water.  The contest is over but the design is available for purchase now in my Spoonflower Shop.



Find this design in my Spoonflower Shop.

Thankful for Thankfulness

Yesterday was Thanksgiving:  a time to stop and give thanks for the blessings in our life.  I, like most Americans, celebrated with my loved ones and feasted on turkey and a whole table full of homemade, delicious goodies.  I want to wish my readers a Happy Thanksgiving as well.  I considered posting the standard "This Thanksgiving I'm thankful for..." blah, blah, blah.  But have decided against it. For the record I have no issue with such described posts.  In fact I enjoy reading them.  I like to hear what others are thankful for.  I like seeing so many people dwelling on the positive (and sometimes not so positive) blessings in their lives.  I also feel these lists are sometimes redundant.  Family.  Friends.  Health. Etc.  In general it seems like when we as humans take the time to think about it, even just for a day, we tend to all agree that all these things are worth being thankful for.  I agree.  I am thankful for all these things too. 

But beyond those standards, I am also very Thankful for Thankfulness.

I am thankful to know that there is a reason everyday to be thankful.  I am not a person who anticipates.  Life goes by so quickly, and I like to live in the now.  I want to enjoy this day for all that it will bring.  I don't like to "count down" to the next "good thing" that will occur or a certain fun event that is happening.  I like to focus on what good thing is happening right now, even if its just a tiny, insignificant speck of the big picture.  And this is where the Thankful for Thankfulness comes to play.  Because, as I make my way through these less exciting but still so worthwhile and enjoyable days I try to be thankful in general for all those not so noticed things:  My house,s heater kicking on;  the scalding hot water from the sink that warms my frigid skin; the delicious leftovers I get for lunch; the sweet text message from my husband; the sunshine OR the clouds (because I love them both for each for the own uniqueness).  And I am thankful that I can recognize all these things and countless others and have the opportunity to be thankful for them!  It is that thankfulness that I am so thankful for.  Because let's face it.  For every "good thing" that happens today, there could be just as many "bummer moments", disappointing events, and things that let us down.  And I could just as easily focus on those.  But instead, I choose to dwell on the good.  I choose to be thankful.

That is my wish for you as well: that each and everyday you can see all the thankful moments around you.  And if you aren't already slowing down and noticing all those little things... well I hope that this post will inspire you!

Hello Spoonflower

Pretty Posies on sale in my Spoonflower shop

If you are follower of my Page on Facebook, then you may have heard that I am now selling gift wrap, fabrics, wall paper and decals in my new shop on Spoonflower. (And if you are not a follower yet, I highly recommend you check it out.). I am very excited about this new adventure since it gives me a chance to offer my designs in a fun new way AND because Spoonflower is such an awesome company.

So in case you are not familiar with Spoonflower, I wanted to share a few things I LOVE about this company and why I am so smitten with them!


VARIETY AND SPECIFICITY AT THE SAME TIME
Confused by this statement?  Well, here's the deal. Unlike some "sell your art on items" websites, that have everything from mugs to tee-shirts, Spoonflower only offers a small handful of products.  Fabric, wall paper, gift wrap and decals.  So there is a focus there on printing patterns on flat surfaces.  They are specialized, which I believe helps them stay focused.  But at the same time, they offer a lot of material and quantity options within those categories, especially fabric.  You can buy fabric by the fat quarter, yard, or even just an 8x8 sample.  They have about 10 +/- fabrics to choose from, including delicate and sturdy cottons and knits.  So for pretty much any project you can think of, they should have at least one fabric type that will fit your needs.  Beyond fabric, they sell two different finishes of wrapping paper (satin and matte) and three different sizes of decals.  And although I am still new to the site, it seems as though they are often coming up with more variety to add.  Since joining just a few months ago they have already added a new fabric type to their mix!

MADE IN THE USA
One of the things that attracted me to Spoonflower was the fact that I could design to my heart's content but not have PRODUCE any of the final products.  Instead of being a mini-factory, cutting paper and folding cards, I can focus on what I love the most, creating ART!  So my fabrics and papers are not physically produced by me but by the awesome folks at Spoonflower.  And where does this all go down?  In the good ole USA!  Which means even though my cards are not handcrafted they are home crafted (for me since I live in the US), and that is something I care about.

QUALITY CONTROL IS BUILT IN
I may no longer be the producer of my finished product, but this does not mean that I do not have a hand in the creation of the final product.  All sellers on Spoonflower are required to order at least a sample of every design that they put up for sale in their shop.   This means that for any design I sell, I first have a physical print out sent to me, so that I can check it for scale, color, and print quality.  And if something is not to my liking, I have the chance to adjust it before I offer it to you.

ORDERING IS SIMPLE
Spoonflower handles it all! 
Unlike Etsy, (where I have been a seller for many years with my shop BdoodleZ ) when you order on Spoonflower you are not ordering from me personally, but from Spoonflower itself.  This has a few advantages. 
First, I do not have to be available to process your order.  I could be on vacation or fast asleep in dreamland.  You can come to my shop any time of the day or night and put your order in.  Now, Spoonflower might not start printing it right at that moment, but the point is, that the schedule of my life does not affect the schedule of your order.
Second, you can buy from multiple sellers all in one transaction!  So you can pick up a cute print from me for some new curtains and a roll of wrapping paper from another seller you might like.

GREAT COMMUNITY SPIRIT
Speaking of other sellers, there is an awesome collection of them on Spoonflower.  I have already begun to "meet" them, simply from the way Spoonflower operates their site.  One of the really awesome features is the ability to leave a comment about designs.  Go to any specific design's page in my shop and you'll find a place where you can leave a comment and read what other's have written.  You can also mark any of my designs as a favorite (giving it a heart!).  It is so much fun to not only ooh and ahh over another's work, but have an easy way to share your admiration with them.

WEEKLY CONTESTS
Every week Spoonflower runs a contest based on a different theme.  Often the themes are seasonal or use limited color palettes (so that all the final designs sort of match).  Sometimes it is just a simple print design challenge, sometimes it is for a cut and sew project (so that all the buyer needs to do is cut along the lines indicated on the fabric and sew. No pattern required!).  Each contest runs for one week and anyone can vote!  The winner gets an awesome prize and all of the top ten are featured in a special fabric bundle that you can buy for a discount bulk price.
I love the contests because it is fun to have a specific theme to design for and also to see which style designs are more popular than others.  It gives me chance to learn what buyers like.  And I LOVE seeing how a group of artists can have the same exact theme and create such different designs.

The current contest is a wrapping paper challenge with the theme of mittens.  I have a design in the contest and would love your vote!  My design is called Missing Mittens.  You'll see that title and my name under the image, which is actually a mock up of a what a package would look like with the print on it.  To vote, click the check box in the top left corner AND then you must scroll to find the submit button to lock the vote in.  Click HERE to vote.  You have until Wed. Nov. 27th.  Here is my entry:

And here is one last link to my Shop.  I look forward to you stopping by!

So that about wraps it up!  (Pun intended).  I am excited about this new Spoonflower adventure and look forward to sharing my new creations with you.

I'm just a girl who loves paper!

A few weeks ago I was ordering some paper and print samples from a few online printers and it got me thinking:  I really do love paper.  But my love is discerning. I am not talking about newsprint or standard home printer white (though they do have their uses).  I mean beautiful papers with fine textures or an ultra smooth feel and a nice weight.  And then there are the colorful papers: solids, patterns, maybe something with a nifty colored fleck.  And let's not forget beautiful stationary with artful embellishments!  I am a creator of greeting and note cards and still I am tempted to buy other pre-made goodies... simply because they are SO PRETTY!  My love goes beyond the paper itself too.  Think of the countless possibilities for creativity and creation that a clean piece of paper can offer!

My love began really when I was a young girl.  I was definitely an artistic young lady, who loved to gather up all sorts of arts and crafts supplies.  Naturally I would be drawn to paper.  I get a lot of my artistic "genes" from my dad, a very creative fellow.  As a child, Dad would often take us to this awesome paper warehouse in a place "far, far, away".  Ok, maybe I am being a little dreamy here, but the store was about an hours drive away from home in the middle of pretty much nowhere.  I am not sure how he even found out about it.  It was WONDERFUL.  A huge, no frills, mini warehouse of all sorts of paper and envelopes in every style and color you could imagine.  The store has no real design to it, just a mishmash of big and small rooms that make it perfect for exploring and discovering.  We would get paper and envelopes to make homemade stationary and cards.  Dad had built a silk screen and we would print original Christmas card designs.  My sister and I would use our rubber stamps and create our own stationary for letters and such!  (You know, back in the day when people wrote letters with real pen and ink).  A favorite purchase would be the big bag of random paper pads!  It was exactly as you could imagine, just a big plastic bag filled with pads of paper, of all sizes, colors, and textures.  And it was dirt cheap!  Another favorite of mine were the mini pads of paper: 3 x 5, 1.5 x 6... or even smaller, like the size of a business card, they were perfect for homemade tickets or clue cards for homemade board games (yeah, we pretty much created everything as kids).  I still make treks to that store today.  It is just as far away, but not in the middle of nowhere any longer.  New businesses have been built up all along way, yet my beloved paper warehouse hasn't changed much.  Family owned, and looking pretty much the same, I still rely on it for my stationary and paper needs. 

I have amassed quite a stash: A whole closet full of boxes upon boxes of envelopes, various types of card stock and paper in a huge variety of sizes, and a TON of patterned scrapbook papers.  (Yes I, of course, whole heartily embraced that paper-pushing hobby).  My paper makes me happy.  I like to organize it.  I loved my neatly stacked card stock piles in my special cabinet, sitting there just waiting for me to slice and print and fold into cards.  Paper is so simple, so clean, and yet can be altered into something so spectacular and complex! 

We live in an increasingly paperless world these days and I am cool with that.  I own an e-reader and a tablet.  I love email.  And I certainly think there are advantages to less paper (like way less clutter!).  But there is still a place for the tangible, especially when it is a beautiful smooth and speckled card stock, just waiting to be printed with a doodled design! 

I hope this post inspires you to stop and admire the paper in your life!

Boxes of colorful envelopes from my favorite paper warehouse

What I am working on this week

This week the focus has been completing the design of the front side of my business card.  Sometimes a blank slate can be tough to tackle, but I have finally arrived at a design that I feel can well represent me as an artist and my unique style.  The card design features my new BZ logo and some of my signature doodle and poche styles. 

In addition to the business card I have been working on a new piece for my portfolio and I created this blog!  I hope you enjoy following me!  Thanks for stopping by!