My little design for Chinese New Year that’s just around the corner. Wishing all Chinese all around the world a wonderful New Year full of love, peace, good health and prosperity.
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By the way, that’s not a self-portrait 😄, though yes the Year of the Ox 🐂 is my year when it comes to the Chinese zodiac.
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For the full gallery on Redbubble, click here.
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Tutor credit for the border: I learned it from Nick of Logos by Nick on YouTube:
I drew a pattern, started out inspired by Art Deco and the Calla Lily flower, but when I finished it also feels a tad Mid-century to me.
I think maybe that’s due to the sparse lines, the white background and the colour choices. Even though this ‘fish scale’ type of pattern is usually considered Art Deco, the art movement is usually associated with richness and luxury. So maybe a dark jewel tone instead of white for the background, gold or silver lines for contrast, and gradients for depth would make it more Art Deco. But I like how this turned out. I’m looking forward to trying out more such patterns.
To see the entire Redbubble gallery for each of the four colour choices, click the names I’ve selected for them below.
Like bright cheery lemons glistening under the Mediterranean sun. I love how fascinatingly different the overall look is, between black and yellow stripes.
I’m looking at the dresses above and I really think that, while they are sweet and casual by themselves, the yellow will go really well with some gold-coloured jewelry. Like a chunky necklace or drop earrings, big bling like that. A large gold cuff.
Strappy footwear, probably. But if I’m her stylist, definitely black leather boots, like Doc Martens. Something kick-ass like that. And while we’re in that direction, a black leather motorcycle jacket, then 🙂
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For the full Redbubble gallery with the black stripes, click here.
As for the yellow stripes, click here.
As usual, here are some photos below in the meantime.
The socks are so darn cute with this pattern, as usual.
I had always wanted to try an anchor design. I’ve always liked the designs of the ‘classic’ tattoos, and the anchor is one of the design elements I think of when I think of traditional tattoos, along with swallows, dragons, pin-up girls, hearts with ‘Mom’ emblazoned across them, etc.
My heart-themed design is inspired by a song I love, Sea of Love.
The song was first released in 1959. I was introduced to it by the 1989 movie of the same title, starring Al Pacino and Ellen Barkin. I remember watching it in the cinema as a teenager, at the time of its release that year.
I decided to do pink and light blue, because they turned out kinda cutesy and I thought they would be cool for teenagers and kids too.
To see the Redbubble gallery of the Pink Anchor, click here.
And for the Blue Anchor, click here.
It’s raining amber this time 🧡 making this pattern the most refreshing so far . There is such a burst of energy to this underused colour 🍊. I think orange is actually such a lovely, pretty colour. Instant warmth.
Perhaps yellow is too blindingly sunny for some, and red too hot and a tad too unsettlingly eye-catching. Orange is like a grandmother’s hug, quietly snuggly and comforting. A smoky shade still gives brightness and warmth, yet it’s still sedate, great for the coat or bag of an introvert looking to step out the wallpaper for a while. It brings attention without looking like it’s asking for it.
To see gallery of items with orange stripes, click here.
For selection with black stripes, click here.
Having done red rubies and green emeralds with the pear-shaped jewel design, I couldn’t resist putting them together for a festive Christmas vibe. The jewels remind me of Christmas tree baubles here! And Christmas lights as well. I gotta rustle up a design with that theme soon now! 🙂
At the same time it still makes for a fun pattern that can be enjoyed all year round.
I did two versions. One with red and green stripes, as illustrated on the dress in the right photo above. To see the whole Redbubble gallery of that version, click here.
The other features black stripes. To see that gallery, click here.
In the meantime, below are some pictures from both:
Normally for the phone covers, my idea is to just put a single jewel against the stripes, but since there are two colours featured here, I had to think of a way to feature both. In the end I decided to do a drop earring kind of design. Looking at it now, it makes me think of a perfume bottle as well 🙂
The ruby rain with which I started the pear-shaped jewel drawing has subsided for now, and it’s raining emeralds this time 🙂
Glamorous yet also homey, bubble-gummy fun. Lusciously fruity and reminding me of crisp apples and pears and and refreshing mint.
The one item that cracks me up with how cute it is, are… socks!
It never ceases to amaze me and fill me with happiness how anything we draw can look like on these print-on-demand items on Redbubble. But the socks always make me smile and laugh. They’re so cute.
Click here for the Redbubble gallery featuring the Green Stripes.
And click here for the gallery featuring the Black Stripes.
I have always thought it would be fun to draw jewels. Pops of ‘sparkling’ colours in the deeply intense shades that I find fascinating in jewels. I tried one recently, pear shaped, and set it against black stripes for a simple pattern.
They remind me instantly of strawberries and gumdrops. I like how they look and can’t wait to try with more colours: green for emeralds, blue for sapphires, and so on.
To see the entire gallery of items available on Redubble, click here.
Hexagons in rainbow: something geometric and festive, with a hint of a basket weave. So it’s something modern but feels a little traditional as well.
I liked it so much that for Redbubble I decided to do solid colours as well.
Moving on to gradient mixes of 2 colours after this, for e.g. pink and orange.
This is the design I decided to go with for my Redbubble gallery. I think the previous design (as shown in previous post) with the outline of my face would be too personal and off-putting for others. It’s not like it’s the face of a beloved celebrity or character, or even just an anonymous but attractive face. It’s just my face :-). So, I decided to have the words with this scenery illustration instead.
As mentioned in the previous post, as an insomniac owl who probably thinks or daydreams (nightdreams, I guess) too much. this is my personal take on “Not all those who wander are lost”, which is a line from a poem in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.
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Tutorial credit: I learnt how to do the style of the above night seascape illustration from MadFireOn on YouTube: https://youtu.be/B4qfFa0avRQ
Wandering at night 