ink drawings

A Return to Patterns

| quirkymundo

My work has focused heavily on abstract textures for a while now, but it’s like time for a long-overdue return to making surface patterns. I wish I had photographs of my early pattern doodles. There were hundreds of them over the years, but I can’t remember where they went. I do, fortunately, have piles of my later experiments, produced in the last decade or so.

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Pencil and Biro Doodles
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Ink and Pencil Doodles

I’ve doodled during long journeys. I’ve doodled in cafes. I’ve doodled between call centre calls and while TEFL pupils completed their work. One of the few times I didn’t doodle was when I was a graphic designer – which is partly why I’m not anymore.

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More Doodles

So many years and so many doodles, yet I never explored their full potential. I did consider training as a tattoo artist, but I’m not sure I could make needles and blood my friends.

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Even More Doodles

It feels good to do something that I love, and comes naturally to me. I seem somehow wired to see patterns everywhere I look. Bring on more patterns.

Oodles of Doodles

| quirkymundo

One of the fun things about going down the stock image route is that I can get out all my old illustration experiments. I’ve always had problems settling on one creative style so there are a few of them. Here’s a pattern I made from a loose doodle style made with watercolour and fine liners. I like the light-hearted brightness of this one.

Doodle pattern using watercolour and fine liner
Doodle Pattern Using Watercolour and Fine Liner

Lots of circles

| quirkymundo

I remember way back when I was doing a BTEC in Graphic design I did a project that needed a design for a Windsor and Newton Gouache box. I painstakingly painted a complicated circles pattern using said gouache. 27 years later and I’m back to drawing circles.

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I was so happy with the result of that project that it was the turning point that convinced me to be a graphic designer. In hindsight I think it was actually the circle pattern I was happy with, more than the graphic design elements that surrounded it.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.