Surface Pattern Design and Adobe

I am currently working very hard to update my old school art and design skills by learning how to digitize and create in Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, and Procreate. My previously published art on Spoonflower and Redbubble is the result of trial and error, a lot of mistakes and flailing around, and a great deal of angst. I’ve recently pulled down most of my designs on RedBubble so I can rework old designs or create entirely new ones. Over the years online education has evolved and become incredibly accessible, and that has created some wonderful opportunities for me.

New Schooling for Old School Art

I am thrilled to have found Bonnie Christine and her Flourish Community in 2021 for some terrific education and support for being a Surface Pattern Designer. In 2022 I took her course for Surface Design using Adobe Illustrator.

Likewise, I am thrilled to have found Sarah Watts, and in 2022 I signed up for both her From Paint to Pattern course and her School for Misfit Makers community for fantastic education and support for Surface Pattern Design using Adobe Photoshop. I’ve been following Sarah’s #sketchbooksquad visual references on Instagram and following the prompts when I carve out a little bit of extra drawing time. I now maintain a membership in her Sketchbook Squad, and I’m working on practice design briefs in her Photoshop Support Club.

I have also been delighted to discover Mike Lowery in 2023 and his Getting Paid to Draw illustration course, which has really given me a pathway to combine old school art skills with a new way to use them and think about them. I’m looking forward to taking another class with him, Procreate Drawing Party.

In the Fall of 2023 I signed up for Stacie Bloomfield’s Leverage Your Art course. I’m very gradually working my way through that course, as well, and will be working on the practice design briefs that she offers as I continue to coalesce my art practice.