The snow is driving us all a bit crazy...

It's been icy and snowing off and on for over a week now. Snowfall in most areas is well over a foot. I've been stuck inside for days now. One would think this would be a perfect opportunity to get some work done, but it's not coming so easily. The cabin fever is starting to set in. Hopefully things thaw out a bit before New Years Eve.

While stuck inside, I've been experimenting with patterns, both repeating and non-repeating. For a repeating pattern it's as easy as making a concise sketch, scanning it and tiling it in photoshop. For non-repeating I try to develop a set of rules in my head to guide my drawing. With the above example I just drew polygons, playing around with scale and layering. I've been working with patterns for a few years now. Over the past month I've been doing a lot of work for a wrapping paper company (more on that later...) Patterns have factored in heavily. For Christmas Sarah got me Over & Over: A Catalog of Hand-Drawn Patterns. By Mike Perry. It's a must-have for the library of any pattern aficionado. Perry has currated a vast collection of beautiful patterns by a diverse array of contemporary illustrator's and designers. It's really gotten me back into the pattern creation drive. Check it out, as well as the rest of Mike Perry's work. I'm a huge fan.