One of my favorite things to do is cozy up with some holiday music, a warm drink, and some holiday drawing inspiration….in the middle of summer. I know this might sound crazy to anyone who hasn’t designed a holiday collection before or tried pitching holiday designs in the fall, but the truth is that fall ..read more

If you’ve never used pattern layouts to build patterns, this is your sign!  Using layouts makes the pattern making process easier by giving you a space to fill that is clear and cohesive, so you never suffer from “blank page syndrome”.  It also helps you create patterns with a better flow compared to patterns made by drawing single elements and moving them around the canvas.  Ready to use pattern layouts with me?  Lets dive in! Watch the Tutorial If you’re a see it on “paper” person, keep reading below.  Otherwise, check out this quick video tutorial in my new i ..read more

Did you know maximalism is trending?  Art Nouveau artists were masters of using maximalism to fill a pattern block with fluid shapes, which is why I knew this was a great time to take a deep dive into Art Nouveau style pattern design! In this class, we use the techniques and processes that these artists used to: hide their repeat seams build fluid patterns that have been trending for decades employ shape math to build fluid curves What You'll Learn More of a video person?  You can see all this in video form or keep reading below. The Workbook I created a workbook for ..read more

Did you know how easy it is to create a seamless brush in Procreate?  You can quickly design some seamless brushes (like animal print in this example!) and use them on your own artwork, or sell them on a site like Etsy or Creative Market.   Watch the Tutorial If you’re a see it on “paper” person, keep reading below.  Otherwise, check out this quick video tutorial in my new iPad Art Break Series on Youtube: The Steps Once you learn this process, you can literally make a whole Procreate brushset in a matter of minutes.  Let’s dive into the steps! (or watch t ..read more

Over the years I’ve discovered more and more how beneficial it is to incorporate trends into my work not just to help me sell more art, but to get my work into the hands of the companies that I want to collaborate with.  Sometimes it’s one trending artwork that gets your foot in the door of a long-term relationship with the company of your dreams!  That is why it’s so important to understand and integrate trends into your creative process. I know that a lot of artists and designers out there struggle to understand and discover trends, and others understand the trends but resist usi ..read more

I know I’m not the only one who started out my repeat pattern journey by taking a single element and repeating it on a canvas over and over.  Bam!  That’s a repeat.  Over the years though, my process has improved and gotten more complex to the point that I know exactly how to hide a repeat seam and build a pattern that flows across the page. I wanted to share some insight into my process, so that anyone who is still in the “plop elements on the page and hope they make a good repeat” stage can find some ways to improve their process. What's wrong with plopping elements on t ..read more

Learn not just how to draw animals but also how to illustrate them in a style that fits the products, market, and overall feeling you want your work to have. The Process  If you’ve tried drawing animals before and feel like you’re missing something, you aren’t alone!  I struggled with drawing animals for a long time until I developed a quick and easy process that makes capturing playful poses easy. The Project In this class we’ll talk about quick methods for learning to draw animals with personality, then dive into how you can define an animal illustration style so ..read more

It is no secret that the online art and design sales landscape is constantly in flux, and like all artists throughout history, we have to stay aware of market changes if we want to keep selling our work.  In this post, I want to give you all a glimpse into some of the changes I’ve noticed in my own sales and that of my network (friends, followers, and members of The Studio)!  Let’s dive in. POD is Reaching Saturation I started selling my art in print-on-demand (POD) shops in 2016 and still have two shops with a combined total of about 9000 designs (nope, not kidding but yes tha ..read more

Today I wanted to answer a question that many repeat pattern-lovers have asked me over the years – do repeat blocks for pattern design have to be square?  If you love designing patterns you probably know that after designing hundreds of repeats you may get a little tired of working on a square canvas, and switching up your orientation sometimes can help you get a fresh perspective on your process.  There are lots of other reasons to use rectangular repeat patterns in your process and in this post we’ll cover them all!  Why work with a rectangular repeat block? Just like any ..read more

Selling your illustrations or hand lettering as art prints seems simple as a concept, but as many artists and designers have discovered after digging into the process, there are a plethora of decisions to make along the way that stop us from ever getting to that “art for sale in a shop” stage.  What size should I use for my art? Where should I sell it?  Do I need frames?  What kind of paper is best? I’ve heard from so many artists who get stuck on one or more of these questions and thus end up never opening a new canvas, let alone starting a whole art print shop. If you are on ..read more