Tuesday is fast becoming my favourite day of the week, thanks to all the lovely patterns appearing in my inbox for my Studio Tuesday feature. I'm particular enjoying seeing so many different styles and approaches to pattern making, from Nik Griffiths' clean and coastal text based screen prints, through to Sophie Honeybelle's stylish geometric gems to today's wonderfully complex, enchanting and colourful repeats by Lidija Paradinovic Nagulov.
I was instantly taken by Lidija's work - on the one hand there's an enticing element of playfulness through her choice of sweet animal motifs and on the other, there's serious complexity within the branches and stems that weave the image together . Her ability to create seamless patterns as intricate and balanced as those created by the likes of William Morris is something I find fascinating and really am in awe of. The marriage of traditional and quirky makes for some truly original work.
You can find Lidija on Facebook or via her website.
Read on to find out more about Lidija's work...
Name/Company or Studio name: Lidija Paradinovic Nagulov - Celandine Design
Location: Belgrade, Serbia
Where and how did you start your surface pattern design journey?
I'm a Japanese Language and Culture major who works full time in administration and finance :) I've discovered design very late in life - I used to draw a lot as a child (as I suppose we all do), and I stopped somewhere in high school, only to pick it up almost by accident about four years ago. I discovered Threadless, a company that crowd-sources design and lets anyone try and compete for a chance to be printed on their t-shirts. It took me about a year to land my first print, but that initial success gave me a lot of enthusiasm to keep drawing. Then some time later Threadless announced a pattern competition, and I made my first ever seamless repeat - the Singing Forest. I was hopelessly hooked. Now I'm obsessed with creating seamless repeats that are as complex and as natural-looking as possible.
How do you approach a project/piece of work or collection?
For the longest time I had no idea that patterns needed to come in collections, so my focus would always be on the main print. Usually I just doodle and play around on the sketch pad until something starts to look cute, or I browse through the beautiful work of all the designers that I love until something they did gives me an idea. I have a bunch of go-to subjects like flowers and plants, sea life, and cute animals, that are always fun to play with. My pieces are complex and time consuming so I always have a bunch of ideas queued up and waiting for execution. That's a good thing I guess :) I don't do too much sketching in advance, I sketch out a piece of the pattern and immediately ink it, then I sketch another segment next to it, and ink that. So in the end the sketch has been erased and basically it looks like the first step in my process is the final inked linework of the entire print tile. That gets scanned into the computer and then I patch up the seams and decide how I want to treat it in terms of colors and style. I post a lot of process pics on my FB page, so anyone who's interested can look them up there.
I have recently started to work on developing each individual print into a collection, and that consists of a lot of pain and suffering, because simplifying doesn't come naturally to me. Once the most complex piece is done, I'm usually already itching to move onto something new and more challenging. Hopefully in time I'll learn to be better at making complementing patterns.
Favourite pencil/pen?
I'm not particular. I don't have any fancy art supplies, I use whatever pencils and notepads I get for free in hotels during my work travel and whatever micron pens I find in the local stationery shops. I do get the best erasers I can find, those are super important.
Sketchbook or loose leaf?
Loose leaf is way easier to work on when I'm doing the actual pattern linework, but for playing with ideas and practicing and experimenting I usually use little notepads that I carry around in my purse. You never know when you might have some free sketching time.
How do you keep yourself on track/organised when working on a project?
I'm pretty obsessive by nature, which means that whatever gets me excited has my full attention until it is completed. Conversely, whatever doesn't excite me gets procrastinated into oblivion. When I start a new piece and I like where it's going, I can catch myself working on it for ten to twelve hour stretches, taking only bathroom breaks :) I won't even stop to make proper food, just grab whatever can be chewed on with one hand while working with the other. Sadly since my life also includes a day job that isn't in any way related to art, a two year old who loves playing with mommy, and an assortment of other daily activities, I seldom get to just draw for hours and hours on end. But I guess loving what I'm working on is what keeps me running back to it whenever I find any spare time.
What are your creature comforts in your studio/workspace?
I sit on a yoga ball instead of a chair. I don't know if it counts as a comfort, I took it up because my husband needed the office chair we had, and new ones seemed prohibitively expensive. But it's really cool because if I'm listening to music I can bounce along on the ball and feel groovy. I often have a cup of tea next to me, sometimes a couple at various stages of emptiness. I also have my Cintiq, who is like a family member by now. Without him it's like I have no hands.
Music, radio, stories or silence?
Sometimes music, usually one song on repeat. As I said, I get kind of obsessed with things. I often listen to TED talks on various subjects, which I find fascinating, and at other times I'll listen to random art and design tutorials, or online courses on random subjects from places like Coursera. Although that's trickier because usually I can't give them as much attention as they deserve while I'm drawing. But I like the feeling that someone is presenting me with new information while I'm working.
Night owl or early bird?
Definitely night owl. Baby Luka wakes at seven, and I work from 9 to 5. After I get home it's family time until he goes to sleep around 8.30, then I'll spend some time with my husband and it's usually around 9.30 already when I start drawing. Then before I know it it's 2 am already and I'm kicking myself for not going to sleep earlier and imagining what a zombie I'll be at work the next day. But somehow each night it's the same and miraculously I'm still up and running :) I catch up on some sleep on the weekends.
Illustrator or Photoshop?
I started out in Illustrator and for some things, like lettering or geometric repeats, it's still irreplaceable. But since I've switched to Photoshop my work has gained a whole new level of life and energy. A vector line forever looks like a line made by a computer - pixels will mold to your hand and can look almost like you drew on paper.
What size art board do you design repeats on?
My art boards are not always the same size, it really depends on the pattern. But I never work on anything smaller than 6000x6000 px. Sometimes I'll even make it 10.000x10.000. Alternatively I'll draw out the whole tile on a piece of A4 and then scan it in at 600 dpi, and see how big that ends up being. The final tile will usually be two of those initial drawn tiles, with one reversed or offset, and some details adjusted. I work in sizes much larger than necessary because I always think of the possibility of needing to print on large formats someday, like maybe wallpapers.
Design heroes?
Ooooh too many to count. From the classics - William Morris, the Alexander Henry studio, Annesley Voysey, Murakami Takashi.... In terms of modern designers, Society6 designers ChiChiLand, Sofia Bonati, Yetiland... Also designers like Linnéa Puranen, Bob Collins, and the amazing Dan Fundenburgh. You can get a good feel for the stuff I like by looking at my Pinterest inspiration board. I've recently joined Behance and I'm finding a slew of wonderful talented illustrators there, like Leire Salaberria, Julia Cejas, and my good friend Chris Wharton. Another dear friend of mine who is also an amazing artist is Tiffany Ambrose, you can see her stuff on Threadless or on her Tumblr blog, Polite Yet Peculiar.
Dream clients or design goals?
My dream is to make wallpapers. It's probably still some way away but that idea just excites me to no end. It's such a major way to be present in someone's home, to make their space unique. I have a really long list of dream clients, but for starters I'd be happy with just developing my business to the point where it can stand on its own. If one day I manage to sell a pattern to Liberty's of London, I'll consider my life a success :)
Dream design destination for inspiration?
I've spent some time living in Japan, and I've found it incredibly inspirational in terms of visual arts. Asia in general has a very loving relationship with the aesthetic that we can't fully match in the West. Nepal and India have a magical relationship with color that always excites me. Also I imagine that places like Mexico or really any part of Central and South America, neither of which I've ever visited, would fire up my imagination with a flurry of color. I've recently traveled to Istanbul on business and was very impressed with the prevalence of color and pattern everywhere in the city. I made an album of Istanbul Patterns and Textures you can take a look at here :)
And what are you working on at the moment?
I've just finished the Garden Party pattern, and I'm doing a few simpler patterns which may end up being supporting patterns to one of my existing collections or might branch off into collections of their own - one never knows these things :) Also I'm doing some potential illustrations for a children's book, but that's not a done deal yet so I can't say much.
Any tips or advice you want to share with us?
Lay your bricks for the day!!! Don't let the concept of 'talent' scare you, don't let the amazing work of other amazing artists intimidate you. If you feel the desire to create, nurture it, support it, and indulge it a little every day. You won't even notice the progress until you look back a few years later and think 'Holy moly, is this really how far I've come??' And I promise you, at that moment you'll be the proudest thing on this earth :) But you have to lay your bricks for the day, every day.
Thanks once again to Lidija for taking part in Studio Tuesday. If you would like to take part in this or my Word Wednesday feature, please email me: ilovepattern@yahoo.co.uk.
Have a lovely day,
Frankie x
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