365 Patterns Challenge

Something I really like about Illustrator CS6 is the pattern making capabilities.  Apparently, pre-CS6, making seamlessly repeating patterns was pretty obnoxious to do.  Now, it's so easy!

Two of the teachers at Nichole's Classes (where I took my Illustrator class) undertook a really cool challenge last year—to make a new pattern every single day of the year.  For the whole entire year.
(Click here and here their work. )

It's a lot.

I thought that was a pretty awesome way to learn/practice Illustrator, so I've decided to take on that challenge this year myself.  So each week, I'll be showing you what I've done.  

I started out really simple:  Polka Dots!  Love me some black and white polka dots.

As simple as the black and white polka dots were, I actually learned a lot from making them.  For example, I realized that you don't have to include a background in the pattern.  These polka dots are just repeating white circles that can be placed on any colored background.  Talk about versatile.

This pattern (not chronologically #3, but I didn't keep track of the order, so here it is) came from the artistic version of a writer's block.  Nothing was working; nothing was right.  And Boo wanted me to paint with her.  So I did.  I painted an organic blue doodle, liked it, scanned it into the computer, used Live Trace on it to turn it into a vector object, and made it a pattern.  I like it.  I'll have to paint my patterns again.

This pattern came from #3.  I wondered if I might like it better not all organic, but with circles and ovals instead.  It reminds Kelli of jewelry.

Ah, this one was hard.  I really wanted to try to make a pattern that actually interlocked, rather than just repeated.  It took a while, but I got it.

And this is the same as the last one only in two colors instead of four.  I kind of like the simplicity of having only two colors.

I love these calla lilies.  The idea for this pattern just came to me one night—"What if you made stripes, only they were actually calla lilies?"  The pattern ended up more calla lily and less stripe, but I still love it.

I wanted to try a more simple flower design.  I think it would be better a little bigger, and the nice thing about Illustrator is that it's easy to change the scale.

I had a really nice streak going on, but then all four of us—the little ones, hubby, and I—all got a really bad cough/congestion/holding-the-baby-all-night-long-because-she-couldn't-sleep-laying-down sickness that lasted an entire week and totally derailed my pattern-making, to say nothing of life in general.  (We're finally pretty much over it...)  So I realized a pattern every day might not be reasonable, but I'll try my best.  And, hey, I can always make up the sick days.