Pattern Play Doodles

Yesterday, I was scrolling through my Instagram feed and saw a post by Justina Blakeney leading to a blog post tutorial she had written on how to turn your doodles into a repeatable pattern. I thought, I could do that! So, often when I have that kind of thought, I don’t act and simply move on. But, yesterday I was in the mood to actually do something, so I got out my sketchbook and my new watercolor brush markers and started doodling.

I was inspired by my houseplants and the flowering trees in our yard and neighborhood. It wasn’t long before I had filled the entire page.

Then I followed the instructions in Justina’s tutorial. It wasn’t hard to separate each doodle onto its own layer in Photoshop. Then I created a new blank file that was 2000 x 2000 pixels and set up guides as a 200 pixel margin. I copied and pasted the doodles until I liked how they looked. Then I followed the steps to create a repeatable tile.

This was my first result:

This morning, I played with the original doodles again and created two more variations, but really, the options are endless.

I love the idea that I can create a library of my doodles and combine them and recombine them in new ways to make new patterns. I can easily see this becoming a new obsession. The level of Photoshop skills needed to create these patterns is pretty low….selecting, copying, pasting and using layers and guides.

I also have to mention the markers that I used to create the tutorials. I recently purchased these brush pens by Kuratake to use in brush lettering, but they are also perfect for doodles and sketching. The colors are bright and clear and blend so easily either alone or with water. I would definitely recommend them if you’re looking for an easy portable way to play with color in your sketchbook.