I got the inspiration for this project from the hundreds of orchids that were on display at the annual exibit held at the Smithsonian Gardens, Washinton D.C.

Oriental Orchids - image 1 - student project

Such a mesmerizing sight it was, ranging in size from small as my finger tips to as big as my hands.

Oriental Orchids - image 2 - student project

This is the first time I tried getting the images in one place to create a design mood board. It was kinda amazing to me that the images I gathered had a strong connection to eachother.

Which to me was a surprise, I must admit, before this I didn't really feel like making one but after this I realized how important it is, vital actually, if one needs to plan and see what the design plan is going to be.

Oriental Orchids - image 3 - student project

I do not know for sure but either its the below freezing temperatures or the warm and humid atmosphere of the conservatory where these exotic & vibrantly colored orchids were on display, that I keep coming back to warm color palette.

To pick colors for my project that I named Oriental Orchids I chose a picture from my idea board on pinterest. It's a beautiful and exotic three-story living room in Marrakech, Morocco.

Oriental Orchids - image 4 - student project

Today I used live trace tool, and what a fun task it was!, I experimented it with different pictures but since none of my pics was taken on a blank white background it proved to be a little trickier. below is the one I loved the most. While the colors aren't a part of the color palette I have chosen but I love just the same, so I hope I'll be able to use it in a singular motif pattern may be.

Oriental Orchids - image 5 - student project

Oh the fun I had while sketching the orchids! I loved every bit of it. Just wanted to make sure that I made nice closed paths for every shape and petal.

Oriental Orchids - image 6 - student project

While taking this course I have learned so many new things, amongst which is using the scanner, and changing and croping the image before the scan. Below are the scans of the my sketches above.

Oriental Orchids - image 7 - student project

All the things I learned in this surface pattern course are super cool!, honestly I have always loved patterns and enjoyed collecting fabric swatches. So imagine my excitement when I made my first repeating pattern. But the super cool thing that I was kinda amazed by in this tutorial was the exsistance of Live Trace Tool. I just could not stop my self from imagining the possibilities!

Below are my sketches vectorized in image trace.

Oriental Orchids - image 8 - student project

I am an avid collecter of coloring mediums like paints to color pencils to pastels and watercolors. It is a hobby of mine. Coloring the illustrations in illustrator is a lot like actual coloring, i.e. super fun! and the ability to do so much more because of the tools we learned about in this course makes it something addictive.

Oriental Orchids - image 9 - student project

I used copy, rotate, reflect, lasso tool, live paint and eye dropper tool a great deal. Once you get the hang of these, they become indespensible tools of illustrator.

My first motif

Oriental Orchids - image 10 - student project

Oriental Orchids - image 11 - student project

My first repeating pattern, you could say this is the main pattern, aka "The Hero"

Oriental Orchids - image 12 - student project

and one more look before we move on :)

Oriental Orchids - image 13 - student project

My Second Motif

Oriental Orchids - image 14 - student project

My Second repeating pattern

Oriental Orchids - image 15 - student project

My Third Motif

Oriental Orchids - image 16 - student project

My Third Repeating Pattern

Oriental Orchids - image 17 - student project

My Fourth Motif

Oriental Orchids - image 18 - student project

My Fourth Repeating Pattern

Oriental Orchids - image 19 - student project

The fun does not stop once the patterns are done, the recolor artwork tool takes the work to a different level.

Oriental Orchids - image 20 - student project

Illustrator is an amazing tool, thanks to Bonnie, who made it seem easy enough to try on my own. While creating motifs can be tricky sometimes and it does seem easier than it is ( I watched some of the videos more than 3 times). But once you do start getting it, its not easy to stop yourself from trying new motifs.

Following are the supporting patterns I made while trying to figure out the best way for the placement of design elements within the square of the motif.

(I must thank you Bonnie, truly the course you designed, with such clearly organized instructional videos also assignments and pdfs, you made every thing seem not only easy but beautiful. One of the reasons why I loved taking this class!)

( I have to post this project again , as I made a new premium account and closed the previous free one I had)

Asna Faruqui

loving it all.

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