The Simple Approach to Designing and Drawing Patterns

Can you draw dots, simple shapes, and lines? If the answer is yes — and it probably is — that means that you’re more than capable of drawing and designing patterns.

This guide shares a few easy patterns to draw by.

Easy patterns to draw

Photos and illustrations via CakeSpy

Once you’ve mastered a few simple techniques of creating designs, you’ll be designing your own beautiful pattern drawings in no time. You’ll be amazed how quickly and easily you can create intricate, beautiful works of art by making patterns. 

Dots

Let’s start with a dot. Anyone can draw a dot, right? 

Dot

But what about if you added some more dots and made a row? Then a staggered row beneath it, and repeated this a few times? All of sudden you have gone from a dot to polka dots. See? You already have a pattern.

polka dot pattern

You can play with this pattern by using different sized or colored dots, or you can use the polka dot formation and expand upon your circles into more involved designs, such as this daisy pattern.

Daisies

From there, you can make it as complex as you’d like, adding more shapes in the negative space if desired.

More involved pattern

Lines

Another thing everyone can draw? A line. 

Draw a line

How about if you drew a few lines in a row? Suddenly, you have stripes. Once again, it’s already a pattern, just as easy as that.

Stripes

But why stop there when you can have so much more fun? For instance, you could create a row of lines in the opposite direction and have a diamond pattern.

Diamond stripes

Perhaps on top of that, in between the lines, you draw dashed lines going in either direction. Suddenly you’ve got yourself argyle.

Argyle

Here are some other examples of how a simple stripe pattern might be augmented. In the first example, additional solid and dashed lines are interspersed between the original stripe pattern, making it more dynamic. In the second example, scallop-shaped lines and dots are added between the original stripes for a pattern with a lacy-looking texture. 

Patterns with stripes

Shaped lines and simple shapes

As you can see, there are plenty of pattern designs to be created using simple dots and lines. But your design options are truly limitless when you add additional types of lines and shapes to your repertoire. Below, you’ll see several shaped lines that could be used, including a scallop-shaped line, a chevron-style line, a looping line and a waving line. Below the lines are simple shapes that can be used in your patterns: dots, dashes, hearts and little diamond-shaped stars. 

Shapes and lines

Settle on some design elements that you like, and experiment with pairing them together. Before you know it, you’ll have patterns and drawings that look unbelievably complex (only you will know how simple they really were to create). 

Designed patterns

Sort of like drawing mandalas, creating patterns is an extremely meditative method of creating art, which may help reduce stress in addition to building your drawing skills. So why not get experimenting with lines and shapes and begin creating patterns of your own? You may find that it’s an addictive form of drawing!

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10 Responses to “The Simple Approach to Designing and Drawing Patterns”

  1. Daliah

    I love your ideas they are so cool and wonderful I would love it you can make or find more patterns and designs your website is so so so so cool and I hope I get to see more ideas:)

  2. Poppi

    I love this website because I love drawing

  3. Alexis

    It is very cool I am designing a food truck and it was very useful</strong>

  4. Priscilla Ware

    These will be great warm-up exercises! Thanks

  5. kyra nair

    mazballs

  6. Savannah

    I am a young person who likes to draw we had a art assignment that involves patterns so this really helped

  7. Carolyne

    Hi! This was a good post and it gave me a lot of ideas! Thanks!

  8. Erin

    that is good

  9. Elana

    Very nice and effective for art

  10. Burnardette Lowe-Miller

    Am a teacher of kinder and first grade students