Here is a sneak peak into a bit of my process for creating a pattern from a hand painting. If you want to see more of my behind the scenes moments, follow me on Instagram! I'm @annewashereandthere.
Tutorial: Part 2 - Extracting a Half Drop Repeat from Photoshop
Due to many people asking me the same question, I have created a part 2 to my tutorial on creating a half drop repeat in Photoshop. This second tutorial shows how I extract my seamless pattern tile from my pattern design. Click here for the video.
Christmas Advent Illustrations
I'm drawing a Christmas illustration a day for advent. Here is what I've done so far. You can follow along on my facebook page if you'd like! Otherwise I'll post them all here once I'm done. It's getting me in the holiday spirit! :)
Gilbert of Good Dog Deals
I recently illustrated the mascot for Good Dog Deals, a place to find the best online deals for your dog brought to you by the popular site 3milliondogs.com. This is such a fun on-going project because they have me create new versions of him for holidays and occasions. Here are a few that I've done so far!
Let's Make Something
I am so lucky to have so many creative friends. One of the best of them is Lisa, who is a graphic designer AND photographer. She is equally talented at both and it's not fair, I know. Check out her awesome creations at www.wisteriadesignstudio.com. Last time we got together we said, "Let's make something!" So we went to Color Me Mine and hand painted some plates. Below are the before and after pics. Lisa's is the floral and mine is the goofy horse. It was fun but it also made me realize how talented traditional artists are. I am almost entirely digital these days and control Z (undo) has become my best friend. You can't control Z a hand painting. All you fine artists out there are amazing!
Kitty Peek
Hi Friends! My doggy peek products on Society6 are doing so well, I thought I should start adding cats! Here is my first release. www.society6.com/annewashere
Business Cards
I just got my business cards in the mail from Moo.com and I love them! The quality is great and they came faster than promised. They allow up to 50 different designs for the back of the cards, which is great for a designer because you can feature an assortment of your work.
Christmas Type
Working on some hand lettered Christmas type for Tiger Print!
Pencil to Chalk
I figured out that if I do hand lettering using a dull pencil and then invert it to white in Photoshop over a chalkboard background, it looks like real chalk lettering. Here are a few comps I just finished for Michaels Arts & Crafts showing the before (pencil) and after (chalk).
Puppy Love Valentine's Day Boxes
Samples came in today of the Puppy Love Valentine's Day boxes!
Gift Card Holders
I Joined Society6!
Today I joined Society6! You can shop my store at www.society6.com/annewashere. Here are just a few of the products I have available so far....
Valentine's Day in August
As a stationery and surface designer, I am usually working 6-8 months ahead of a season. While your days (or day-dreams) are filled with images of summer, sunshine, bathing suits and BBQs; mine are filled with images of hearts, cupids and love notes. I am currently designing for Valentine's Day. My first project was to do a series of boxed laser cut valentine cards. I usually start the design process by brainstorming a list of words and then with those words in mind, I create an inspiration board.
Next I start fleshing out a few ideas by doing some simple hand drawn or digital sketches.
Once I have a few sketches that I'm happy with, I start bringing the designs to life by creating digital mocks.
The next project was to design a valentine themed kraft paper party collection, including boxes, gift bags, and tableware.
Valentine's Day reminds me of being in grade school and creating adorable little mail slots out of kleenex boxes and stuffing them with the cutest hand crafted envelopes and cards. I knew I wanted the party collection to have a postal theme, with envelopes, stamps, postmarks and of course lots of hearts. But I needed to push the cuteness factor to another level. What better way to do this than to incorporate dogs?!
First to design were these adorable little gift boxes with kraft paper lids, baker's twine bows and coordinating tags.
The rest of the party collection included, gift bags, paper plates, paper napkins and party bags. Everything you need to throw the most adorable Valentine's Day party!
I can't wait to see the real samples when they come in. I'll share them with you when they do. One of the most gratifying parts of being a designer is seeing your ideas go from concept to reality.
Lastly, here is a picture of my dog, Midji, displeased with me for not including her in the puppy love notes party collection.
