Sticks & Stones Pattern Study

It's hard for me to focus on a subject matter when I enjoy so many. So to help me stay on track as I try to build some pattern collections, my husband gave me an assignment. (He is a teacher, so what a great idea!) He told me to focus on the theme of "Sticks & Stones".  Since I often get my inspiration from nature, I loved the idea. I also love the contrast of shapes and structure that the two have. One is light, narrow and can be broken pretty easily. The other is dense, rounder, and extremely hard to break.

I find my process changes a bit with each pattern approach. Maybe that's ok? Maybe it's the subject matter that will determine how the process goes each time? Guess it will work its self out as I go more. And I guess as long as I enjoy the process along they way and get to my goal, it doesn't matter too much.

I started with gathering some different branches outside. Of course there is snow on the ground, so I didn't have as many options as I may have liked. And gathering them in the dark was a challenge—and a bit painful...accidentally grabbed a branch full of thorns. In a way, it was kind of fun to discover what I had gathered once I came inside. Here are some picks of the initial approach I'm taking as I do some studies of the subject matter. I randomly placed some of the sticks I broke up and rocks my daughter had collected on a surface and then drew them on the opposite page. Once I had a black and white base drawing, I placed vellum over it to trace with different line weights, etc. I've found that vellum or tracing paper is crucial for exploring different approaches in a quick manner.

First drawing on right with black ink.

Doing an outline of drawing with vellum.

When the vellum shifted, I like how the underdrawing created a shadow effect. I'll take this idea into one of the patterns. Happy accident! I also like this crop of the pattern.