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NOW OPEN! Registration for Bonnie Christine’s Surface Design IMMERSION Course is now open for 1 WEEK ONLY from Feb 18-25 2020! Once closed, you will have to wait another whole year. So if you have been dreaming about furthering your career in surface pattern design, you just need to START…and this is a fantastic place to do it! The Surface Design IMMERSION Course is an intensive 8 week online course starting March 2. Step-by-step, Bonnie’s focused lessons will teach you Adobe Illustrator from the ground up, how to create repeating patterns, build pattern collections, put together a portfolio, how to license your work, and how to become a creative entrepreneur. Bonnie will guide you along the way and you will become part of a wonderful online community of like-minded creatives. As an IMMERSION student, you can work at your own pace (so it’s not scary!) and you will always have lifetime access to this year’s course content! To find out more about Bonnie’s Surface Design IMMERSION Course, follow this LINK! I am honoured to partner this year with Bonnie which means if you sign up through my LINK I will get a little kickback to support my creative business. Please know that I truly believe Bonnie is a great teacher and I have learned so much from her courses, she is open and honest and passionate, and her wonderful creative community which I have been part of for several years, continues to be one of my go-to places for ongoing support, inspiration and learning. I wish you all the best in your creative journey! 
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Victoria Johnson's excellent 5-week course "Create Collections" finished today. I really recommend this course if you are a surface pattern designer who wants to create gorgeous pattern collections (who of us doesn't?) for fabrics, home decor, etc. It is well-paced and really teaches how to focus and think about every step that goes into creating a collection: colour palettes, designing placement prints, understanding secondary and coordinate patterns. If you are interested in learning more about Victoria's courses, check out Victoria Johnson Create Explore! Meanwhile, here is a peek at the collection I designed during the course!   I just started a brand new pattern design course from Victoria Johnson Create Explore called "Create Collections" and have been developing colour palettes and drawing new motifs (butterflies, moths and florals so far!) and thinking about how different types of patterns co-ordinate to make a larger pattern collection. Sometimes it really helps to have someone guide you through their process which really makes you think more deeply about your own design process. So, I started with these two placement prints. I might adjust the colours a bit as I get more into the collection, so stay tuned for more to come! Repeats!
This month's MATS Bootcamp assignment was to illustrate a magazine article about the Japanese concept of wabi sabi which celebrates transience and the beauty of imperfection. I decided to show the Japanese maple leaf in a changing cycle of seasons, Summer to Fall to finally, blowing away in the wind. I also tried to keep the colours a bit subdued (it started out way brighter!), to give it a more quiet and calm feel, and maybe with a bit of Japanese kimono colour too. BTW: I decided to try out the spot gradient tool in Adobe Illustrator for the first time, and boy, is it fun! In a way, it felt very wabi sabi to me (even though digital) because you can add these spots of colour here and there and the resulting gradations and interactions of the spot colours resulted in some surprising colour gradations which I thought were kinda beautiful, so in a way using this tool felt a bit wabi sabi because you never knew quite what was going to result!  MATS Bootcamp is a really fun portfolio-building course from Make Art That Sells. I decided to join up back on Cyber Monday and had to wait until February for the class to start. So, the first February assignment was to design a floral-themed journal cover featuring a specified flower, for me it was geraniums. Tell me what you think...Would you be happy writing your thoughts in this journal, I am curious? 
Ohhh, I'm going to like this month's theme in the Colour Gang--Cultural Influences! I love to travel, and was fortunate this summer to visit Japan, so I'm going with Japan for the first January Colour Challenge. Step 1: create a colour palette inspired by Japan! Using photos from our trip, I created two, deciding to forgo the more "traditional" images of Japan (kimonos, temples, gardens, etc.) and focusing on the less traditional. The first moodboard, "Neon Nights, is all about the "wacky" side of Tokyo/Osaka...neon lights, Robot Restaurant, Kawaii Monster Cafe (google it!) The second one, called "Warm Fantasy" has scenes from Tokyo DisneySea which my kids (and I) thought was beautiful, particularly the Arabian Coast area and Magellan's Restaurant (with Ariel's Playground in there too). Colours are amazing in Japan! Next step: some new pattern designs!
Thought I would keep going with the blue palette this week in The Colour Gang...so I added this new "Koi" pattern design to go with my "Lotus Pond" and "Enlightened" pattern designs. The second image here puts them all together! Hope this collection makes you feel calm and peaceful!   Happily, one of this month's creative challenges in The Colour Gang was to design an all-blue pattern design! Blue in all it's variations are favourites of mine: turquoise, azure, sky blue, cobalt, indigo, cerulean, cornflower, ultramarine, royal blue, lapis...I love them all. Blue is also calming and ethereal, so I thought what better subject but the lotus flower, often associated with spiritual enlightenment! Here is my "Lotus Pond" and "Enlightened" pattern designs. I also thought that the Lotus Pond pattern would be wonderful as wallpaper! Enjoy!   This week's brief in Folio Focus 2018 was to create some fun farmyard characters...So here is my "FAMILY FARM" collection of pattern designs featuring affectionate roosters, hens and cute little chicks! I can see these guys on some fun kitchen linens, stationery or childrens wear! Contact me if you would like to license these designs! To see all my newest pattern designs, I also invite you to check out my IG at: https://www.instagram.com !  The brief for Week 3 of FolioFocus 2018 is called "Hobby House", all about everyday objects, especially sewing paraphernalia! So here is my final "Sewing Obsession" Collection and a fun journal set with this collection. Wouldn't this set be a great way to keep notes about all the fun sewing and quilting projects you want to do!   I've still been working on this week's "AstroSynergy" brief for FolioFocus2018. Here is the next in my Signs of the Zodiac series, "Aries" (see my earlier post for "Taurus"), again with a placement print and several repeat pattern designs. I would like to create a collection for each Sign of the Zodiac, each with its own unique colour palette and motifs, but also have all the different collections working together. Are you an Aries? Would love to hear what you think of this one! Do they work together?  This week's brief for FolioFocus 2018 was "AstroSynergy"! So I decided to design some Signs of the Zodiac, starting with "Taurus". Here is a collection with a placement print and several repeat designs. I might try and do "Aries" next...Are you a Taurus?! This collection would be wonderful on bedding, as shown!  
 Had a great time with the two Retro Colour Palettes from last week's Colour Gang creative challenge...Earthy and Pop Brights! Here is a new pattern I am going to call "Chirp Chirp" (with coordinates). Please do tell me which one you like best! I'm on the fence with this one!  
Just thought I would post this round-up of some of the new patterns and placement prints that I designed during the super fun 10-week Folio Focus course! Can't wait to do the course again in 2018!
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AuthorJackie Tahara of UnBlink Studio Archives
July 2025
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All images on this website are Copyright © Jackie Tahara. All rights reserved.
If sharing, pinning or blogging my images, please always credit me and link back to my website. Supporting artists is a good thing to do! Thank you!
If sharing, pinning or blogging my images, please always credit me and link back to my website. Supporting artists is a good thing to do! Thank you!