I know, I know… another Blob Brush course. What is my latest obsession with the Blob Brush!?! In this new instructional course World’s Easiest Motifs with Negative Space Details - Using the Blob Brush and Eraser for Pattern Design, I feel I can show you yet another technique to help you in making the fastest… motifs….EVER! I will help you to create negative space really easily WITHIN the motifs with the eraser tool. It is so easy, you won’t believe it!

I want you to look at motifs a little differently so you will cleverly use negative space to have the maximum impact. The contrast between your motifs and the background gives a completely different feel, and you will love how simple it really is to add different angles like side views, top view or front view to add depth to your design. I will also be giving you tons of pattern design theory along the way, like varying the scale of your motifs in your composition, and quick ways to position and reposition components. We will make some design elements small, some medium and some large and we will balance them out by arranging them next to one another in different scales. Varying scale gives it visual interest and allows your eye to move around the pattern.

I have plenty of other ideas and pointers too as I demonstrate my workflow from drawing that first motif to fully rounding out the collection. I am also teaching you techniques for adding depth and interest to patterns created in this style! You will create foreground, middle ground and background layers which make your pattern so much more interesting! It will be a fun little adventure for you.

I'll be showing you more advanced Adobe Illustrator skills along the way too, but you can definitely be a beginner when it comes to learning these tools and techniques. If you are like me, you’re always learning new pattern design skills and you want to take it one step further. If you are looking for ways to scale-up your pattern and coordinate production, you may find this is perfect for creating motifs and patterns more simply and effortlessly. I called this class "World’s Easiest" for a reason!

Development of quick techniques with the blob brush for pattern design in Illustrator is the focus of this course, with the goal of helping you increase your proficiency with Illustrator techniques you may never have considered. You will conceive an energetic pattern which can be colorized to help establish the foreground, middle ground and background layers! In this course, you will learn every step. And remember, these techniques you pick up can be used for so much more than florals! Think of your favourite illustrations to draw and imagine using these methods and techniques on them!

What you learn here covers many fundamental principles in the general workflow of many surface pattern designers and graphic illustrators. It is guaranteed there are new methods and strategies to be learned each day with loads of new skills in this tutorial! And you will get more than just facts and knowledge: if you've taken other Deloresart classes, this is just an essential evolution in your artistic development. If you make a repeat pattern, it can be used to sell with companies like Spoonflower or Print on Demand sites for wallpaper, fabric or gift wrap, or to create custom products.

As far as prerequisite skills, I would recommend some knowledge of Illustrator with the goal of wanting to learn additional techniques. In class, we’ll talk about both design and technical aspects of creating the artwork. I will demonstrate them at a reasonable pace so that it will be easy to follow along. This course is for all levels. I suggest Illustrator for this class, as that is what is being featured here, but any other vector software is suitable, so long as it has the same functionality. Conceiving and executing an artwork or pattern can be done relatively quickly with this little adventure.

The key concepts I will include:

Creating motifs using the blob brush and shapebuilder tool
Easy eraser tool techniques for creeating negative space
Many considerations for designing repeating patterns efficiently
Approaches you can take in your creative work moving forward
Designing pattern layouts in pleasing arrangements with depth of field

This is a relevant course for you to take no matter what the end purpose for the artwork you create. Let’s dive in, so you can be benefitting from your knowledge now in your art practice!

Intro to Easy Negative Space Detailed Blob Brush and Eraser Motifs for Pattern Design

This video is the intro to Easy Negative Space Blob Brush Motifs

Lesson 1: Overview, Inspiration and Examples

In this lesson, I will show you how I am inspired to create these simple motifs. We will visit a few boards on Pinterest to see how I looked for inspiration, and I will point out a few and specifically explain what we have going on. I will also show you an initial motif to explain some of the shortcuts and the basic process of creating the motif.

Lesson 2: Basic Shapes with the Blob Brush

Here we will experiment with the settings on the Blob Brush and I will explain how to use it. I share constant reinforcement of keyboard shortcuts throughout. I explain the rationale behind using different line thicknesses. I explain how to smooth shapes and correct any anomalies.

Lesson 3: Carving Out Negative Space with the Eraser Tool

In this lesson, we will continue with the drawing of motifs and I explain more considerations for the eraser tool. I explain how to draw the stylized rose and show you different methods for cleaning up the drawing.

Lesson 4: Pathfinder Crop, Trim and Divide

Within this lesson, we will look at other methods for creating negative space within the motifs. We will experiment with divide, crop, trim and minus front. I will also show you how to create a motif with colored negative space rather than open space which will show through to the background.

Lesson 5: Additional Motif Drawing Tricks

In this lesson, we build a more complex 2-part motif and I will explain different settings on the blob brush controls. I also cover the anchor point tool briefly.

Lesson 6: Finessing and Finishing the Art or Pattern

In this lesson, we will talk about testing and how I compare different iterations of the pattern. I work through the entire process, and I throw in little tidbits like the puppet warp tool and more pathfinder info.

Lesson 7: Perfecting the Pattern

Building the composition is easy with the use of the techniques I will show you, as well as quick motif alteration with the Blob Brush. We will discuss how to make easy changes and how to further build out the pattern. At the end of this lesson we are ready to do some testing, which we will start in the next lesson.

Lesson 8: Mockups and Finalizing

Building the mockups is easy with the use of the techniques I will show you. We will discuss how to make easy changes and how to further build out the pattern. In this lesson we will be creating a couple of mockups to show off your new design.

Lesson 9: Wrap-Up and Next Steps

This video is the conclusion and wrap up of my instructional tutorial on how to produce a layered, Marimekko Inspired floral design. Hope you enjoyed the class!

Kristin Nap

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