From Artwork to Wrapping Paper
My top selling watercolor floral wrapping paper.
Recently, I had the sweetest opportunity to teach the daughter of one of my best friends. My friend purchased a two-part series of private lessons with me for her daughter as a Christmas present. We chatted and decided that the focus of the lessons would be for me to teach Audrey how to turn some of her artwork into beautiful wrapping paper.
The brief back story here is that I love making wrapping paper from my pattern designs. I displayed a small collection of my current favorites at the annual holiday market in my home town this year. They sold like hot cakes! They were the "it" item at my table. Check out my three best selling designs below.
Now let's get back to Audrey!
Audrey arrived for her first lesson and I was blown away by her beautiful watercolor flowers. The level of detail she achieves is exquisite and her use of color renders shadows that create wonderful lights and darks in her work. This is very difficult to do with watercolors! She gave me permission to show you three of her lovely flowers which you can see below.
She was eager to jump right into learning how to digitize her work and create a repeat pattern.
By the end of our first session together, she learned how to:
- Scan her work,
- Digitize it,
- Create a repeat pattern, and
- Make adjustments and corrections
We were both very excited to meet again and complete the process of getting actual wrapping paper ordered in our next session together.
Audrey is a quick study and brought a new piece of artwork with her on her second visit. It was a lovely sunflower in a beautiful range of yellows and oranges. I knew immediately that we could turn it into a very pretty pattern that would look amazing on wrapping paper.
Using the new piece, we repeated the process of scanning, digitizing, and creating a pattern. It was fabulous to see how Audrey's discerning eye and vision came alive in the digital space. Playing with different arrangements, adjusting for negative space, and iterating the pattern together is the best and most fun part of this entire creative process.
By the end of the second session, she had accomplished our shared goal of:
- Understanding all of the key steps in the process,
- Finalizing a beautiful pattern design,
- Uploading the art file to an online printing service, and
- Ordering a roll of her very first wrapping paper
Just a few days later I received a text message with a picture of Audrey and her wrapping paper! It came out beautifully and I've included some pictures below. Look at that smile!
Seeing your artwork come to life on a real product for the first time is absolutely thrilling. It's a totally unique feeling and hard to describe. I'm so happy for her!
Learning new skills and techniques in my own work is very motivating. Having the opportunity to share these skills with others is a true joy. Seeing enthusiasm and excitement emerge from a student after helping them create something tangible from their artwork is the ultimate gift.
I'm so blessed to have discovered my own passion for art in many forms: painting, drawing, pattern design, mixed media, and more. Part of my core mission is to pass this enthusiasm along to others and encourage creativity wherever I can.
Remember: It's Never Too Late To Create!
xo,
Anne
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P.P.S. If you missed last week's blog, I have included an audio version below. You can download it to your phone and listen on the go. Enjoy and see you next week.
