Making Patterns
I spent the evening working out some new patterns for a new work. The process of creating these geometric patterns has been an exciting challenge for me. The patterns are initially complex, requiring a significant investment of time to create the sub-grid from which the pattern is formed. After the sub-grid is created, it gets to be fun, filling in and coloring the remaining shapes.
The final tiled pattern as it will appear in an upcoming work.
The cropped tile-able pattern. This is the end result which I use to define a pattern in photoshop.
The sub-grid is created in a geometric drawing tool, which emulates drawing with a compass and ruler. The outlines are exported to Adobe Illustrator, where the final adjustments are made before painting in Photoshop.
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I took an Islamic art class back in the day, when looking at mosque every surface is draped with geometric pattern. Just trying to wrap my mind around the size and complexity is exhausting. Even reproducing some of the patterns and grids on the computer is too time consuming for me. I think your time has paid off though. The pattern is really cool I love that you’ve added the John Dilworth scribble to it. It really makes it your own.
Wow, that’s really impressive. I love how scientific design is. It’s amazing how such simple building blocks (circles, squares, and triangles) can yield such an intricate result.
I love the close up – the large circles, composed of triangles and ovals, have a tessellating feeling that reminds me of one fish eating the next. The triangle being the fish’s tail and the intersected oval is the fish’s open mouth.
Or I’m just seeing things. Either way, the slight variations in the painted layer make it intriguing.
cool
John, I just discovered your website this morning and am absolutely amazed! The knot series is fantastic! Thank you for showing some of the behind the scenes progress as you have done in this article. Question: Is the entire artpiece done digitally in Illustrator and Photoshop, or just the preliminary work? I love how you juxtapose the geometric patterns with crazy seemingly uncontrolled lines. I am an artist as well, and have been working on a mostly geometric series. Then as a side project, I started a scribble series because I had to free myself from the circles and triangles. In your artwork, the best of both worlds have been combined!