New Birdcage pattern Lime + blue colourway
A peek behind the process
I first do lots of sketches by hand
The first few are always too stiff + perfect
It takes a while (+ music + coffee) to loosen up
Loosening up
Bird sketches which I had on file.
Then I scan my fave sketches into the computer and put the drawing together in Photoshop
Next step is to choose colour
For inspiration I go into my ongoing colour file that I keep on my desktop.
In this case I chose a fabric that I had photographed while at Anthropologie last week.
(Yes secret revealed!)
I thought the combo of lime, blue + taupe was just gorgeous plus it had a real retro look which I was after.
I make up a swatch of the colours
And then used them to colour my illustrations.
* Note: I slighty altered my technique today by opaquely colouring in over the linework of the birds and some of the cage. This gives the illustration a more vintage look as this technique was often used in the 1950s.
After completing 5 birds this way I used the cut + paste keys in Photshop to create a repeat pattern. I then added a light tan colour underneath.
Here are 2 more colourways.
Girly pink and red.
Retro orange + blue.
