Feathr: Evaluation

I decided to take part in Feathr because I wanted to develop my illustration skills and create a design that was more a piece of art. I had a clear idea of what I wanted to produce but I still found it useful to do research and experimentation before I began designing.

In the end I used black ink to produce two Dutch house themed wallpaper designs - one in colour and one black and white.

The brief was a nice change from computer based work as I found it taught me to slow down and be more patient as I am used to being able to CMD Z every mistake. I had to take my time and carefully plan out how I wanted everything before I began painting.

Overall I really enjoyed this brief, it was really nice to be able to step back from the screen and have some time to paint an outcome. Whilst I have painted elements for other briefs, this has been the only one where the outcome is solely my drawing.

Feathr: Final Designs and Submission

After quite a lot of experimentation with different colours I finally found a colour palette that works well because it has enough variety between colours but equally each colour is bold and stands its ground. 

I am really happy with the outcome I think it looks sweet as a wallpaper, the design is attractive but also practical as lining up isn't an issue and causes minimal paper wastage. The colours are a lot more vibrant and engaging in comparison to the previous dreary palette.

I have also submitted the plain black and white one as I still think this is a lovely outcome in itself. The wall paper works well in black and white because it adds detail and interest to a room without having to add colour, this means people can mix and match bright accessories or continually change the style with the reassurance that the wallpaper will work with any colours materials.

I have submitted and received a confirmation email.

Feathr: Editing the Wallpaper

I have painted another two houses (far right) to add more variety to the wallpaper. 

Working in illustrator I have created equally spaced guides so that the pattern will hopefully be continuous across different sheets of wallpaper.

The houses create an interesting affect from a distance because they are not obviously houses. The black doors stand out but they have been randomised so that there are not clumps of black in certain areas.

Applying Colour

I have been trying to find a colour palette that works, searching for inspiration from the brightly coloured houses of Amsterdam and a purple macaroon,

Applying the colour to the houses.

Once they are positioned in coloured rows the colour is broken up by the windows. The colours that contrast stand out the most - the blue, purple and green work well but perhaps the other colours are a bit wishy washy in comparison.

The colour works well to add something extra to the design however I think the lighter colours need to be switched out for something brighter so that they really stand out. Because of the amount of space the windows fill  there is really very little solid colour showing - for this reason I think the colours need to be as vibrant as possible.

Feathr: Designing the Wallpaper

I am really liking how a row of Dutch houses is looking as it will look great when made into a repeat pattern.

One quick experiment was having the houses behind each other as if you were looking over a busy city. This would be more chaotic and busy - it creates an interesting affect but perhaps not one for a wallpaper.

Mocking the houses up in 4 straight horizontal lines: each line is different with the houses in different orders this is to create a range of shapes across the rooftops and leave different amounts of white space between the rows. Whilst I need to refine the design and possibly add a few more houses to create a bit more variation, the design is definitely getting there.

I wanted to create a bright but complimentary colour palette to fill in the houses with. 3 warmer colours are paired with two shades of blue to bring balance to the design. 

The colours have been kept in an order but the houses have changed each time to add a bit of variety to the mix!

Overall I really like this affect and think it will make a good wallpaper. The colour is broken up by the whites of the windows and the white space around it. The pattern should be pretty straight forward to duplicate and match up as long as the houses reach the end of the row - I will need to consider the colour pattern so that it goes from one roll of wallpaper to the next one. The design also means that not much wallpaper will be wasted when the user is hanging it as the pattern is easy to line up. 

Another idea I've had is to create a night time one where the buildings are black silhouettes with yellow lights on, this could be interesting and is something that I will explore.

To do:

• paint another house

• experiment with a night time design

• start mocking up the design in the correct format

• upload to Feathr to see if the design lines up well

Feathr: Ink Drawings

 

After sketching out quickly how I wanted the designs to look and using the research images as a guide I begun painting some Dutch style houses. I drew them out in pencil first to get the lines straight however I outlined them in ink in free hand because I wanted a more handrendered line. The slightly bumpy, or at least not perfect, lines add character to the buildings and emphasises the fact that it has been created by hand!

  

Importing the ink drawings to Illustrator I was able to neaten up the designs by rasterising them and then image tracing the outline. This has removed the paper background and made the black a lot stronger. The houses have turned out a lot better than I was expecting which is a pleasant surprise and I am already starting to see how this could work as a design which is exciting. 

 

Alternating the houses to created a street view works well and should be relatively easy to line up as a wallpaper. I think I will do another 2 houses to add a bit more variety to the layout.

 

I want to create a black and white wallpaper as well as a coloured alternative. Although the colour above will not be the ones I choose, I just wanted to see how easily colour can be applied and how the houses look collectively when coloured. I will explore colour palettes that will suit the houses and would be desirable in a house as I cant imagine anyone would want the colour combo above!!

 Next:

• draw another 2 houses

 • create a colour palette

• make the wallpaper pattern

Feathr: Sketch Idea

After doing some visual research I wanted to really quickly sketch the style I want to create to get a bit of practice using the inks and also to have something to refer back to when it comes to drawing the final outcomes.

The first 3 houses I drew (left page) don't look like Dutch houses, the height needs to be excenuated to really show off the classic style archietecture. The drawing on the right has had another floor added to be a more accurate reflection of the houses. The drawings should be simple as they are going to be printed relatively small - if there is too much detail then the design will become overaly complicated.

I really like the idea of using gentle colours to fill the houses, however I think I will paint the outlines first in black and scan them so that I can create a black and white alternative before playing around with colour digitally.

Feathr: Research

One idea I had for a wallpaper a while ago was a repeated pattern of rows of Dutch houses. I have always found the tall slim house structure interesting as each house looks quirky - no two are the same. I have selected a few different photos which show the style or shapes I want to produce. 

I want to create a 2D flat design either all in black and white or just using some key colours as I think this will work best and be most manageable. I have bought some Windsor & Newton Ink because its a good investment but will also be good for this project as the ink creates a lovely affect and the colours are vibrant and exciting. I think I will create some basic sketches first to get an idea how to use the inks and then create simple black outlines. If I do black outlines first then I can scan them and always add colour afterwards.