I created another pattern. I don’t make them often because they take way more time than my usual cat designs. But somehow I ended up making another 🙂
I titled it “Ocean Song” because it looks like ocean waves.
Ocean Song
Mountains
I create a lot of my pattern-like designs when I talk on the phone. I just can’t sit still and do nothing. I always start doodling on whatever’s available. And since I have my reMarkable tablet with me at all times, I usually end up sketching on it.
This is a simple pattern of mountains that I made recently:
It all started with this absentminded sketch:
Then I uploaded it into Photoshop and cleaned it up. Added grey backgrounds. Made some mountains lighter, and some darker. Then I applied some distress textures that I bought on Creative Market. And the effect is a pattern that looks nice on home decor and some apparel.
Watched Walker
Lately, whenever I have boring repetitive tasks to complete, I watch Watched Walked on my second monitor. Watched Walker is a YouTube channel where someone posts videos from their walks in various cities. It’s, of course, no substitute for actually going to those cities and walking around, but I won’t be going on vacation anytime soon.
Here’s a walk in Barcelona:
Google Alerts
I set up Google Alerts with the titles of my designs to be notified when they are put on sale illegally. For example, one design that gets stolen a lot is “Overthinking and also hungry”. When thieves try to sell t-shirts with that designs, they don’t even change the title so I created an alert for phrase “Overthinking and also hungry”.
This way, I get Google Alerts as soon as Google finds out about the infringing listings. And as soon as I get notified, I can send a DMCA takedown notice so that it’s taken down immediately.
I learned about Google Alerts from Michael Essek’s blog. There are other useful guides there too.
Vintage Wash
Threadless added a new type of t-shirt. It’s called Vintage Wash and the colors are lovely, more subdued than normal t-shirts. They also have very creative color names. Instead of simple “Red” it’s “Nantucket Red”:
And this color is called “Summer Sky”:
This is “Saltwater”, my favorite:
Wild Flower
I turned another of my reMarkable doodles into a design. I thought it would look nice on blankets and pillows.
The days are getting colder
Tumblr revived
In an effort to promote my art a bit, I revived my old Tumblr account. Last time I posted there was in 2017. Today I added two more designs. And I plan to add all my designs but it’s going to take a while because I don’t want to spam anyone who follows me. This is my Tumblr. Follow me if you like.
A note on motivation
I’ve been thinking lately, I am very lucky that my family and friends are not very supportive. Most of them don’t believe in my success. My mom used to tell me I couldn’t draw — and it was after I’d been working as an artist for years. My friend said that I will probably not make a successful game, ever.
I also have friends who believe in me and tell me so. Maybe all those unsupportive and supportive comments cancel each other out, and that’s why I am never discouraged.
I know there’s a lot of talk about how important supportive environment is for achieving your goals. But I think this is wrong. For me, having only supportive people would not be a good thing. The best people to have around are people who are a bit like adversaries — you need to show them you can succeed, you compete with them, you want to prove them wrong,
