What's in a Gnome?
Gnome thyself
Little gnome inspiration
Everything ever made begins with inspiration.
Thoughts about pattern prompts
1. Take your own pictures. You own your pictures and can create art from them. I'm adding pictures here of gnomes around my house to show you how to put ideas together on a vision board. From here you can begin to see gnomes in different ways.
2. Spend some time percolating your ideas. Take at least a couple of days and allow yourself to imagine gnomes you've seen, what gnomes look like, surfaces you can imagine for patterns of gnomes or wherever your imagination takes you. Then come back to your mood board and add your reflections. Schedule time to begin your creating. I usually start with illustrations because I can take a sketchbook and pen anywhere and draw or write. But you can start with whatever medium you like.
3. . A theme or topic can help you to gather your thoughts under one category. It can even save you time by eliminating all the other pattern ideas you may have. I keep a running list of themes on my desk so i don’t lose track of any good ideas while I’m focused on my chosen theme. Gnomes are everywhere in every season - Think valentine gnomes or garden gnomes or winter gnomes. I've also seen bumblebee gnomes and knitting gnomes and so many others. What can you think of? Take a picture when you're out of an interesting gnome and add it to your mood board.
Gnome on Skis
See? They make a gnome for everthing.
4. Vision boards are helpful to get a feel for your motifs in their natural setting or to place them in an opposite setting. What would be an interesting foil to gnomes? In the above picture I’m using the freeform app that comes with the Mac iOS. If you have a Mac I highly recommend this app for drag and drop posting of ideas. The above picture is downloadable. Just click on it.
5. Collect things that bring you joy for your vision board. This will keep you going through tedious or unfun tasks. Focus on your joy. The picture of the swimming pool at the Spa at Stowe in front of Mt. Mansfield brings me immense joy, especially since it sparks the memory of being there earlier this month. The manufactured feelings I get from the picture elevate my mood and draw out my creativity. That’s why I’ve included it on this mood board. More on joy on my website. Check it out.
6. Don’t underestimate the color palette I’ve included. Printers and manufacturers will need a color palette from you for each of your designs, complete with hex codes. So it’s good practice to work within a palette. Sometimes colors can multiply in the beginning stages of design work. Have a palette with a defined number of colors will not only restrain the multiplication, but it will also keep your design cohesive. Other designs can easily coordinate by using the same palette.
Gnome color palette - Kathleen Lambert art
Don’t be put off be the color choices for Gnomes. They may not look like the colors of gnomes, but that’s why this prompt works. It forces us to think in uncommon ways. When you’re designing your pattern, establish a small group of colors from this palette that make you happy and then apply them to your motifs. You might surprise yourself with the outcome. There were a number of iterations on the pattern below before it got to this point. I’m still not done, but this pattern is bringing me a lot of joy.
