February 2025
Hello, my dear friend,
When winter is almost at its end, I find myself dreaming of flowers and spring. However, the beauty of late winter is also breathtaking, with frosty early mornings that clothe last year's dry plants in sparkling, thin layers of ice. If it weren’t so cold, I’d linger longer to admire those wonderful crystals.
This month, I finished an experimental pattern inspired by Jane Eyre. I used a limited palette of six colors (plus white) and managed to create all these beautiful shades! The colors look cohesive because they all come from the same six colors. The patched-up look of this design helped me when making the pattern seamless digitally.
It’s the first time I’ve tried this particular process, so there is plenty of room for improvement, but I’m happy with the result. You can find this pattern through Spoonflower and Redbubble.
More patterns
The past two Spoonflower challenges haven’t been up my alley, but as usual, I’ve learned something from both.
You can find the stripes pattern here: Spoonflower and Redbubble and the paisley pattern here: Spoonflower and Redbubble.
Sketchbook
I still haven’t missed a day in my small square sketchbook. I know it’s bound to happen sooner or later — life has its way — but the rule remains: it’s okay to miss one day, but don’t miss two consecutive days!
What I draw depends a lot on how I feel that day. I generally let my intuition pick the subject. If I’m at the drawing academy and there’s a live model, I’ll mostly choose that. This past month, I’ve also done some style studies and drawn flowers.
Here are some more sketches from another notebook — a mixture of studies for patterns and life drawing classes.
Next up is a pattern with geese. I’m not sure why, but I like (white) geese very much. Here is a quick shot of the finished painting. I’ll have quite a bit of processing to do for this one.
That’s it for now. I’ll return with more news next month!
Warm wishes,
Ema
Find all my patterns and illustrations below:
As an illustrator and pattern designer, I believe in the power of imagery to bring joy.
My work centers on hand-painted repeating patterns, inspired by the fantasy and magical realism stories I love to read.
I work in both traditional and digital mediums.
Long walks with my little dog are one of my favorite pastimes.
If you're interested in collaborating on a project, feel free to reach out and ask about my availability.
