Sneak Preview - Roller Blind Design

I have been pretty busy lately with working a 9-5 and trying to squeeze in a commission in my spare time. So I apologise for the length of time between posts. I thought I would show you a sneak preview of some drawings I've done for the Fabric/Roller Blind commission...

What do you think so far?

I will post more of my progress soon hopefully, so stay tuned! 

Please note, all drawings/designs in this post are copyright of Leanne Carpentier. Please do not copy!

Featured Designer: Sara Berrenson

When I was doing my research for my 'Modern Floral' Theme Board found here, I came across an artist that I found really inspiring. Sara Berrenson, is a Graphic designer by day, and a textile designer by night. She specialises in surface pattern for Textiles, Paper Products, home decor and Gifts.

I love the technique Sara uses on her textile designs, I got in touch with Sara to ask how the process of making these textiles was done...

"I work primarily in watercolor and gouache, then add both hand and digital illustration. I enjoy the loose quality of watercolor and gouache and the blending and overlaying of colors." - Sara Berrenson

I really like the layering effect although sometimes I think using many materials can be a bit over powering and doesn't turn out as good as you had imagined it to (from past experience), but Sara has hit it spot on, and the results speak for themselves.

Sara, Hard at work on a new design

These Designs initially caught my eye. I just love them! The colours are beautiful and the style is so intricate yet bold. 

 "My inspiration comes from everywhere, including nature, interior design, and fashion. I love going to the flower mart in LA and the rose bowl flea market to gather inspiration. My favorite subject to paint and draw would have to be flowers. I can't resist a great floral! I like to work with bright colors to capture nature in a vibrant and vivid way." - Sara Berrenson

In many respects I think I like her work so much because of the fact that I love flowers being my main inspiration too. A lot of my personal work is floral. There is so much to be inspired by and its such a natural occurrence that you don't have to go too far to get that inspiration.

Sara doesn't just design florals although it is a beautiful part of her portfolio, her work consists of other themes too which also have her unique styling.

Please Note that all images in this post are copyrighted to Sara Berrenson. Please Do not copy, If you wish to use an image then please contact Sara through her website. If you would like to view more of Sara's work then please visit her website or blog.

Research Boards

In the last post I said I was working on some mood Boards from my Initial research, well I thought I would share them with you. Here are the spin offs...

My 'Typography' Theme Board

My 'Sketchy Botanics' Theme Board

My 'Modern Floral' Theme Board

My 'City Chic Romance' Theme Board

I'm now trying to find the right style of drawing, colours and design style that my client wants. So Keep checking back to hear how the project continues. 

Also let me know what you think, I'd love to here your feedback too. 

Please note that these Images are for my own research purpose and I do not own them. Please do not copy with out the owners permission. Thanks!

Initial Research

Initial research is essential to a good start when designing anything! This is why I am doing some mood boards which I will post up once completed. I have been asked to design some bespoke fabric for use on Roller Blinds. I decided that it would be more beneficial for myself, if the client sent me some initial images of the type of thing they are after, so I made a mood board of the images that were sent through to me. 

I was quite surprised when I saw them trickling in as they are very different in almost every way possible! I have a hard task ahead of me, but it hasn't put me off at all. A challenge is always good!

So I thought about how to deal with this in a more direct approach. I have decided to narrow down the thought process of the initial interests and I have made some mood boards inspired by the above images which I will post soon. Stay tuned to see the outcomes.

Please note that the images in this post are not my own, they are for research purpose only. Please do not use any imagery.

Painterly Florals

Not so long ago I posted a photo of a quick painting I did of some florals from my sketchbook and I just thought I'd show you what I did with it. Here is one of the final designs.

Please do not copy any artworks! Copyrighted by Leanne Carpentier.

Colour Inspiration

Recently my family have been busy renovating the family home and it's nearing that time once again...the time for decorating!

I was asked if I could help out, so I created some colour inspiration mood boards. I was given some little details to think about, which were charcoal grey slate floor tiles and a white ceiling and skirting boards. So with this in mind I thought I'd put a few boards together with some alternative colours that they might not have thought of before. Take a look and let me know what you think.

As you can see, we quite like the colour grey but mum didn't know what to put with it, I would recommend these colours for a bit of brightness and warmth. 

Please note All Images are not mine! They are images I've researched from the Internet. Please Do not copy without permission from the original source first.

Painting Florals

I hardly ever do any painting, to be honest I'm not very good at it, that's probably why I don't do it, but for some reason I felt like painting today, so I gave it a go. This is what I did...

It was actually quite therapeutic, maybe I should do some random paintings more often! Even if it is only something quick like the one above. 

Please Note all work on this blog is copyrighted to myself, Leanne Carpentier, unless stated otherwise. Please do not copy! Thank you. 

Valentines Day

It's that time of the Year again, Some people love it and Some hate it...It's Valentines Day!

I have seen a lot of nice cards around for Valentines day this year, so here is a little round up of the ones that caught my eye...

Starting with Etsy first...

Hand Drawn Screen Printed Card by 55His From Etsy

These Hand drawn and Painted cards made me chuckle, they're by 'Your Mum Rang' from Etsy

I really like this card, It's quite Rob Ryan-Esq. This design is by Folk Art Papercuts from Etsy

The High street stores also had a few nice cards...

The Above 4 Cards are a selection from Tesco

I love this 'Nelly the Elephant' Bag from Paperchase, It's Adorable.

 I also liked this Heart shaped box also from Paperchase

Although I did see quite a lot of nice ones in the shops, I decided to make mine (of course). My boyfriend and I said we weren't going to do cards this year but I thought I should do one just in case ;) Here it is, Quite simple really.

My Card design with the gift wrap I designed for work. Card copyrighted to Leanne Carpentier and wrap copyrighted to Swan Mill Paper Co and Primark, Please Do Not Copy!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY EVERYONE!

Primark SS13

The new Wrapping Paper range is out in Primark now for Spring Summer 2013 and one of my designs was chosen. 

Primark wanted a hearts wrap this year and I came up with quite a few options but thought simplicity would be better. I thought the design below was quite good for Primark as it suits a range of ages. I also like the fact that you can see a chevron pattern in between the hearts making a chevron stripe, followed by an almost diamond shape stripe and so on and It's out just in time for Valentines Day!!
What do you think?

 

Primark have also changed the look of their packaging labels, I quite like the cool new font as Packaging.

I also have some cards in store at the moment too. These 3 pack cards are images which are from other artists/photographers, so are NOT my images, but the cards were put together by me (Text, Colours, Mounts, Add ons). I love the shoe pack, I think its a really nice pack for women of all ages. My Fave is the shoe! (Of course)

Please Note all Designs are Copyrighted to Primark and SwanMill Paper Co. Please do not Copy! 

Press - Ideal Home's, The Complete Guide to Christmas 2012

This came as quite a surprise to me, but I was looking through some Christmas Magazines this year and I came across one promoting B&Q's Christmas range. As I flicked through a little more I noticed that the Owl Christmas wrapping paper I designed for work was featured. How exciting!! Take a look at some of the pages...

(Please do not copy this image and use this as a form to enter the competition as It will be void!)

Please Note that these images are copyrighted to Ideal Home Magazine, Designs are copyrighted to SwanMill Paper Co and Should not be copied or used in anyway! Thanks.

Cheap As Chips

Just a quick post, I came across some more of my cracker designs just before Christmas on the Cheap As Chips website. I designed these crackers in work about March last year, so completely forgot that they decided to run them into production.

Please Note all designs and Packaging are copyrightes to SwanMill Paper co. Please do not copy!