Adding Patterns to Your Paintings

Artist Mia Whittemore often incorporates patterns to add texture and visual interest to her paintings. In this demonstration, Mia shows how she creates new patterns for her own artwork. She begins with a beginner-friendly tossed repeat, where a single element is repeated but oriented in various directions. For her example, Mia uses a stem of leaves and fills the space, adjusting the angle of the stems, often allowing them to extend to the edges of the pattern.

For geometric plaid patterns, Mia starts at the center with a series of vertical lines and builds outward, repeating the pattern. Then, she adds horizontal lines, working from top to bottom, and repeats this process, varying the colors and line thickness with each repetition. When creating more complex patterns, which include intricate details and multiple elements, Mia begins with a single shape (like a rose) and arranges it in different angles and configurations across the page. She then adds additional flowers, stems, leaves, and other elements to build depth and complexity. Mia suggests filling any empty spaces with additional elements. Lastly, she demonstrates how to create a ""ditzy"" pattern, characterized by small elements repeated frequently. She starts with tiny flowers of one type and adds another contrasting flower at the same scale, followed by small leaves and dots. These types of patterns are typically drawn straightforwardly, without varying the angles of the elements.

After demonstrating how she designs these patterns, Mia explains how she incorporates them into her paintings. She prefers using simpler patterns in the background to avoid drawing attention away from the subject of the artwork. For example, she enjoys using plaid patterns, such as a tablecloth, to contrast with round floral shapes. She also takes inspiration from the colors of the subject to incorporate into the patterns. Lastly, Mia discusses how to design repeating patterns suitable for fabric, wallpaper, and other applications.