I have been creating digital artwork for printing bedding and home textiles for over four years. I would like to share my brief process of developing antique artwork to suit modern printing needs. Some of the patterns presented in my textile gallery are original– however, many of them are based off antique documents for either inspiration or almost direct replication. Let me take you through the basic steps to recreating antique artwork and textiles for modern manufacturing.
1. First I measure the original document and compare that with the parameters I have been given for what repeat sizes are printable — that they fit manufacturer machine limitations. Then I determine what sizing adjustments must be made and begin with an artboard of that size in Illustrator.
2. Next I primarily recreate the antique document exactly as is by photographing the document and using layers of varied opacity to enable ease of tracing it into vector form with my wacom tablet. If there is distress or unattractive features, I simply do not recreate them.
3. Then I expound on the original document by adding detail. If the piece of the document is incomplete — such as missing half a flower or simply not visibly connecting–then I develop new motifs to complete the design while keeping the consistent style of the document.
4. Through a series of critiques with the client, we establish that the design is good and complete. Then I begin coloring. I explore color stories and after an overall pallete is determined I then reduce the colors with Point Carre to accomodate the mill’s screen printing abilities. This number is usually between 12-16. Gradients can be used to make a pattern seem to possess a lot more colors than it actually does. The color reduction is actually a step that I take into consideration from the very beginning, but as details are implemented and gradient techniques are applied, the number of colors will generally vary somewhat until critique has polished our project to satisfaction. Both before and after reducing the number of screens through design manipulation, I man our large textile printer to develop a physical color standard. This phase is not represented in the gallery below. Coloring the final design is a large, repetitive process within itself. Since all monitors display color differently and very few would represent the true color of the final printed fabric, suffice it to say that I am good at recognizing, matching, and tweaking color.
5. After the color standard of our printed design (on appropriate fabric) is correct and approved and I have fully examined the file for no repeat issues or goofs, then the file is submitted for approval and sent to be engraved at the manufacturer for production.
That is antique replication in a nutshell. The chronology of the steps sometimes changes, but they are all very integral parts of the process. There are many tricks and techniques within the major steps which I have gained through my experience, but have not gone into detail explaining. The steps may sound simplified but it takes fine attention to detail and a comfort with hand illustration to efficiently recreate an antique document.
Behold the before (antique documents) and after (digital, print ready engraving file) of three completed Rose Tree projects.
Pattern Process
I have been creating digital artwork for printing bedding and home textiles for over four years. I would like to share my brief process of developing antique artwork to suit modern printing needs. Some of the patterns presented in my textile gallery are original– however, many of them are based off antique documents for either inspiration or almost direct replication. Let me take you through the basic steps to recreating antique artwork and textiles for modern manufacturing.
1. First I measure the original document and compare that with the parameters I have been given for what repeat sizes are printable — that they fit manufacturer machine limitations. Then I determine what sizing adjustments must be made and begin with an artboard of that size in Illustrator.
2. Next I primarily recreate the antique document exactly as is by photographing the document and using layers of varied opacity to enable ease of tracing it into vector form with my wacom tablet. If there is distress or unattractive features, I simply do not recreate them.
3. Then I expound on the original document by adding detail. If the piece of the document is incomplete — such as missing half a flower or simply not visibly connecting–then I develop new motifs to complete the design while keeping the consistent style of the document.
4. Through a series of critiques with the client, we establish that the design is good and complete. Then I begin coloring. I explore color stories and after an overall pallete is determined I then reduce the colors with Point Carre to accomodate the mill’s screen printing abilities. This number is usually between 12-16. Gradients can be used to make a pattern seem to possess a lot more colors than it actually does. The color reduction is actually a step that I take into consideration from the very beginning, but as details are implemented and gradient techniques are applied, the number of colors will generally vary somewhat until critique has polished our project to satisfaction. Both before and after reducing the number of screens through design manipulation, I man our large textile printer to develop a physical color standard. This phase is not represented in the gallery below. Coloring the final design is a large, repetitive process within itself. Since all monitors display color differently and very few would represent the true color of the final printed fabric, suffice it to say that I am good at recognizing, matching, and tweaking color.
5. After the color standard of our printed design (on appropriate fabric) is correct and approved and I have fully examined the file for no repeat issues or goofs, then the file is submitted for approval and sent to be engraved at the manufacturer for production.
That is antique replication in a nutshell. The chronology of the steps sometimes changes, but they are all very integral parts of the process. There are many tricks and techniques within the major steps which I have gained through my experience, but have not gone into detail explaining. The steps may sound simplified but it takes fine attention to detail and a comfort with hand illustration to efficiently recreate an antique document.
Behold the before (antique documents) and after (digital, print ready engraving file) of three completed Rose Tree projects.