#coupdecoeur

Mon nom de fleur préféré est devenu une de mes chansons préférées !

Clara Luciani avec Alex Kapranos (Franz Ferdinand)

See collection in SPOONFLOWER

See collection in SPOONFLOWER

From sketch on paper to procreate sketch and pattern model building

I discovered this Useful tool to find a color Name 🙂

There is poetry in color names:

Faded Purple – Ebony Clay – Sky Magenta – Water Blue – Water Blue – Yellow Tan – Tulip Tree – Muted Blue – Blue Koi – Cobalt – Dull Green – Hibiscus – Viridian – Old lace

Some color names tell stories, Names that hint at a narrative, inviting the mind to imagine a scene or a moment. Names like “midnight blue,” “sunset orange,” or “emerald green” are not just technical labels. They conjure vivid images and emotions tied to experiences in the natural world, much like poetry creates pictures in the mind through words. They are whimsical and imaginative, as for instance: “buttercup yellow,” “ocean mist,” or “dragonfly green.” These names create a sense of fantasy or wonder, transporting the mind to a place or feeling rather than simply describing a shade.

HOW MANY BLUE COLORS !

Les Time lapse de procreate ne sont pas si gadget que cela!

On y voit toutes les hésitations.

Le motif fini… semble souvent calme et harmonieux.

Or, quand on regarde en arrière,

on voit les toutes et les fausses routes, les motifs qui fonctionnent bien en unité mais qui, en répétition, paraissent trop denses et parfois mal équilibré (espaces négatifs problématiques), d’ou les multiples retour au motif de départ… et va et vient de corrections .

Le dessin de motif à répétition dans son ensemble a du mathématique et du tâtonnement…

Les proportion restent mystérieuses.

“Water mark” faite avec Raw pixel pour les images des réseaux

Je change de watermark sur mes réseaux à l’infini, en boucle: un nom seul ou une sorte de logo construit puis simplifié … retour au nom…etc

Utiliser les mockup a plus ou moins résolu le problème. Simple et efficace

Au bout du compte, je me demande si “IS” n’est pas le meilleur: simple – basic

et autres “marks” … exploration

Mes premieres explorations de morning glory… affiné en poster.

While looking for birds elements to insert into a pattern I felt like making a version of this birds shape with a kind of stamp texture. It can be of great decorative power: simple shape with randomly applied texture ( like ink on gummy transfert on grainy paper)

it’s a mock up – The birds were made with procreate as elements of a future floral pattern

See this birds in Portfolio

The acanthus (my sketches in Blog) is a large-leafed plant common in the Mediterranean region

Last summer I registered to Skillshare. I followed the course of Barbel Dressler . My emerging passion for acanthus started with her course “drawing acanthus”. All of her courses are just great and impressive by the amount of information she provides. It isn’t only about practical exercices, she also explores a large range of abstract knowledge and go back and forth between knowhow and knowledge. Just Brilliant!

I wanted to write this post in french (since I have loads of documentation but my starting point was Barbel Dressler informations so here it is, in english. Please excuse my grammar and spelling mistakes sprinkled around.

Then I kept being curious about the acanthus world in all its forms and enjoyed practicing.sketching. I also discovered or simply happened to see acanthus all around

I haven’t yet made a pattern with acanthus motif. it will be done soon.

Barbel Dressler copy right 2020

The name derives from greek acantha =  thorn  

Most commonly depicted plant since ancient Greece and Rome. It plays significant role in art and design (architecture & home design). The Specific intangible beauty of its shapes, lines and details inspired  classic motifs.

The legend

Acantha (Ancient Greek: Ἀκάνθα, romanized: Akántha, lit. ‘thorn’) is often claimed to be a minor character in Greek mythology whose metamorphosis was the origin of the Acanthus plant. Acantha’s myth however does not appear in any classical source.

The tale supposedly goes that Acantha was a nymph loved by the god Apollo. Acantha, however, rebuffed Apollo’s continued advances and scratched his face. As a result, Apollo transformed her into the Acanthus, a plant with spiny leaves.

In Greek legend the Athenian architect and sculptor Callimachus one day happened to pass a tomb, near which he saw an acanthus plant enfolding both a tile and a basket. He was inspired by the sight to design a capital for a column, since known as the Corinthian order.

According to an earlier Greek legend, a young girl died, and her devoted nurse collected her trinkets and ornaments and placed them in a basket near her tomb and covered them with a tile. The nurse set the basket down on an acanthus root, whose stalks and leaves grew up enfolding the basket. It was this tomb that Callimachus saw.

The shapes

Big broad plant with side nerves coming from the center. There is difference between real plant and designed version all over the world. The original shape is exaggerated and enhanced  for a stylised version all over the world

The ancien greek first started to use the acanthus leaves as a motif to adorn columns , the roman version: an other style emerged based on Acanthus Mollis : broader, more curvy 

The column where classified into 5 order: toscan – doric – ionic –  corinthian- composite

Acanthus spinosus versus Acanthus Mollis

Acanthus mollis is very similar to Acanthus spinosus. The main difference being the leaves and flowers: 

1. Serrated Leaves: Acanthus spinosus is characterized by its serrated leaves. Acanthus spinosus leaves have sharp, tooth-like edges that give the plant a distinct and jagged appearance. In contrast, Acanthus mollis has broader and softer leaves, lacking the serration found in Acanthus spinosus.
2. Flower Spike Production: Acanthus spinosus has the upper hand when it comes to flower spike production. This plant produces more flower spikes compared to Acanthus mollis, giving it a showier and more vibrant display of blooms.

Acanthus Mollis

Acanthus spinosus

Acanthus shapes through history

• The greek version: leaf are based on Acanthus Spinosus – more pointed narrower lobes ( building temples)
• The Byzantin acanthus got chukier, more simplified and stylised. ( used as leaves. not so much scrolls)
• The medieval motif is simplified. specially // wood carving  ands often used as a motif in books illustration / illumination: longer tendrils, more elaborate scrolls and use of the S line . The S line may have been used before but starting to emerge with illustration on paper

The Decorator’s assistant

Lost art press

• Gothic acanthus leaves and scrolls: more round with bulb form… later it became more bizarre and esteem  with extra long extended tendrils  that look almost fizzle
• With renaissance occurs a significant jump in style – much more elaborate and delicate style  with more details shapes and lines 
• With the baroque time : acanthus leaves became even more extreme especially with the rococo and neoclassical period with no end to the swirling, curling and bending

All of this themes took inspiration from the classical period of the greeks

• In second half of the XIX century beginning of XX century, the art and design style were heavily influenced by the pre raphaelites and the art and craft movement. Compared to the romantic period (XVIII), the acanthus became a little bit more robust
• with art nouveau there was more imaginary elements, new type of details ans extension of the leave appeared.

• and art deco: goes back to a more classical and strict look again

Barbel Dressler copy right 2020

I did not find better and simpler view and explanations on the web than Barbel Dressler’s ressources that I re-organised here with colors for my instinctive visualisation. I recently started to use this blog also as a display of useful images and documents for me and may be for others- See other basic leaf shapes in Blog.

The Decorator’s assistant

Ressources: Acanthus section board in Pinterest

This year I joined a sculpture/modelage groupe. I had the chance, through a friend, to meet a local group of creative women who have been practicing sculpture for a few years already.

https://www.instagram.com/yhtac68/ share her experience through practice. She has a wonderful workshop place. Although It is not a couse but rather a place to practice together As a new comer in this field I am learning a lot.

I am a mix media digital creative personI spending hours facing a screen , I thought it would be nice, for a change, to work 3D, play with argile material. A kind of recreational art exploitation.

Pattern making

In procreate I made stamp brushes of the flowers and had sketched previously.

I first build the pattern swatch with lines and circles for the stem and flowers. I move them around and get an idea of their positioning. only then when the swatch is almost ready I stamp the flowers into the circles and finalise the sketch. Ready to test and draw the swatch.