Creating Patterns Using Watercolor

Meet Lola, who tells you about her journey as a painter and her passion for patterns and textile design. She shows you some of her sources of inspiration and briefly explains what you will learn in the course.

Start by preparing the materials for your project and look for references to create your mood board to find inspiration. Once you find your creative idea, organize your project using a more precise mood board to guide you throughout the process.

Lola then explains how to work with watercolor paint. She introduces you to the basics of pattern composition before you start painting your design as well as giving you ideas to explore shapes, movement, scale, color, and space in your work.

Next, it’s time to start painting! Give shape to the ideas gathered from your mood board using watercolor, following Lola’s step by step process. Experiment while you paint until you have your composition ready, then scan it and start working on your piece digitally.

Define your linework to achieve a clean finish on Photoshop using the pen, lasso, or eraser tool. See how to create repetitions or rapport for your pattern design; once you have your rapport, prepare your file to send it for print.