I've been eying this class for a while and I decided to finally jump right in. I've ordered a new sewing machine and I'm just waiting for it to arrive, so a fun project like a self-designed cushion cover seemed like a fabulous place to get started. 

Moodboard

As soon as I started snooping around my apartment for textures I couldn't stop. I had so much fun. I nabbed some shots of my plants, my curtains, my cat, and the gorgeous Liberty of London Print that I've stretched on a canvas frame behind my couch (apparently I was ahead of the curve on that Tapestry trend!). Only some of those patterns, textures, and marks made it into my mood board. 

I also popped into my Pinterest for some inspiration. I'm rather obsessed with butterflies lately, after a lifetime of thinking they were a bit too girly for me. I also grabbed some things from my dream house board. To keep things simple I just browsed the pins I already had, rather than searching for new ones, but I'm very happy with what I can up with. Right now, most of my illustration work is very bright and pastel-y, but I'm looking to add deeper tones to my work to ground it. 

I didn't follow the number of colours and added some extra because I thought the colour-scheme needed a bit more to get the flavour I was going for. We'll see how that pans out in the final designs. 

Design

I procrastinated on this project for ages. I didn't like what I produced in illustrator so I put it off. Then finally I realized: just paint it you dummy. So I did. 

I knew I wanted to create a butterfly design, with moving shapes and botanicals. I planned to paint first and then add further elements digitally. 

Whenever I paint butterflies I start with a paper template, which just makes it easier to get the shape just right. 

Afterword I scanned in the painting, cleaned up the background and added more shading and details.  Overall, I'm very happy with the result and I'm thinking of printing it on velvet to create a very grand cushion. For now, I've plopped it into a mockup so I can see it in all its cushiony glory!