How I turn my hand painted art into pattern designs using Adobe Photoshop

As an artist, I thrive on creativity and exploration. One of my favourite ways to showcase my hand-painted artwork is by transforming it into vibrant surface pattern designs. There's something special about watching a single piece of art evolve into a beautiful, repeating pattern that can be used for textiles, wallpapers, and stationery. In this post, I’ll take you through my step-by-step process of creating a pattern tile in Adobe Photoshop, as well as bringing a sketch from your sketchbook to life in a pattern design.

Finding Inspiration

The journey to creating a pattern starts long before I open Adobe Photoshop. My sketchbook is my treasure trove of ideas. I draw inspiration from various sources like nature, architecture, and everyday objects. I see interesting shapes in the ordinary moments, and quickly scribble these down in my sketchbooks - keeping a catalogue of inspiration ready for whenever I need it.

My pattern ideas always start in my sketchbook. Sometimes these are finished colourful motifs, or very rough black ink and pencil sketches which I will scan in, and then develop further in photoshop or on my iPad.

Preparing Your Art

Once I'm happy with the marks or drawings I've created in my sketchbook, I begin to digitize my hand-painted pieces. I usually scan my artwork at a high resolution of 600 DPI. This ensures that the details and texture remain sharp when designing and editing, and the higher resolution allows me to easily scale up and down the artwork without losing any of the detail. When my artwork is scanned, I spend time cleaning up imperfections in Photoshop. This often involves removing stray marks or adjusting colors. It’s a small effort that pays off big in the final design.

Remove the background

In addition to refining my artwork, I aim to isolate each piece or drawing into a separate motif to easily reposition it within the pattern tile. To achieve this, I first need to eliminate the white background using the magic wand tool. I select the white background and then choose Select > Similar, which adds all the white areas in my artwork to the selection. The lasso tool can be used to further include areas in the selection, such as small specks captured by the scanner that are unnecessary.

Separate your motifs

Now I need to separate the individual motifs. I grab my lasso tool and draw around each of the individual motifs. Once selected, right-click (ctrl + click on Mac) and go to 'Layer via Cut'. This will grab your selected motif and move it onto its own layer. You have now separated your first motif! Continue with the same process until all of your motifs are on their own layers.

Use the lasso tool to draw your selection around the motif then right click and select 'Layer via Cut'

Convert to Smart Object

It's important to remember that in Photoshop, if you reduce the size of any artwork in your file, you won't be able to restore it to its original resolution because Photoshop automatically decreases the pixel count. A useful solution is to convert each individual layer or motif into a Smart Object. This ensures the original resolution is maintained, regardless of how often you scale it up or down, and also lets you edit all instances of that Smart Object simultaneously.

Setting Up Your Pattern Tile in Photoshop

Now it's time to set up your pattern tile document in Adobe Photoshop. I prefer to use a square canvas that measures 12 x 12 inches/3600 x 3600 pixels at 300 DPI.

I like to keep my original motifs in a separate document so I can easily refer back to them if needed. To transfer my smart object motifs into my new 12x12 inch file, I use cmd+shift to select all the motif layers, right-click, choose 'Duplicate Layers...', and set the destination to the new 12x12 inch document.

Building your Pattern Tile

When arranging, consider how the pieces interact. What style of pattern tile repeat do you want to create? Are you aiming for a dynamic chaos, or something more balanced? Experimenting is key here.

Arranging my hand drawn motifs into a repeating pattern tile

Depending on the style of pattern you're going for, I would recommend to start building your tile from the middle section first, before you place any elements on the edges. You will quickly see how your motifs work together as a finished design. At this point, you will see if any additional elements are needed, maybe to fill some of the smaller gaps in between the bigger motifs.

To transform your design into a repeating pattern, start placing some motifs along the edges of your pattern tile. These elements will repeat on the opposite side, ensuring a seamless repeating pattern. Photoshop offers a useful feature called 'Pattern Preview' that simplifies viewing the entire repeating pattern without needing to duplicate layers and align them perfectly on all sides of your tile. You can access this feature by navigating to View > Pattern Preview. This allows you to see how your design appears as a repeating pattern and easily identify any gaps that need correction.

Remember: Any artwork/motifs sitting off the edge of the tile will repeat in the opposite area. The Pattern Preview feature in Photoshop will help guide you during the building process.

The sections highlighted in yellow represent the same motif, which is repeated on both sides.

Defining Your Pattern Tile

After I’m satisfied with the arrangement, it's time to define the pattern tile. To do this, while still in 'Pattern Preview', go to Edit > Define Pattern and name your new design.

Then, I like to test the new pattern by creating a new A4 size document. I go to the Layers panel > New Adjustment Layer > Pattern... and select my newly defined pattern. You can also play around with the scale here as well. This step is crucial to identify any discrepancies, like gaps or mismatched edges.

Adding Final Touches

Now with a larger view of my pattern, I can refine it further. I often notice areas that need more balance or colour adjustments. The beauty of digital art lies in its flexibility, and I embrace that to make my designs better.

I also enjoy utilising high-resolution Photoshop mockups (creative market is an excellent source for these) to evaluate pattern designs and colour selections. If the pattern is intended for home decor items such as blankets, cushions, curtains, or wallpaper, I select a mockup that aligns with this theme. These mockups are useful for showcasing my new designs on social media, email newsletters, or my website.

My final design on a couch mockup

Once I’m happy with the final look, I save my work in different formats like PSD for future editing, JPEG for easy sharing, and PNG for any designs that require transparency.

Licensing Your Designs

With your stunning pattern tile complete, you may want to consider licensing your designs. This step is important if you plan to sell or share your patterns. Knowing your rights and how to protect your art is essential in today’s market.

I suggest looking into Print on Demand websites that cater to artists. These websites are a good starting point to get your designs seen and at no initial cost to the artist. I use Spoonflower and Redbubble to sell fabrics and products of my pattern designs. Both offer great options to turn your designs into tangible products like fabric or wallpaper.

Embracing the Artistic Process

Turning my hand-painted art from my sketchbook into seamless pattern designs is an incredibly fulfilling process that offers limitless creativity. This journey reinvents my work, showcasing it in fresh and exciting ways.

Whether you’re an artist, designer, or simply curious about pattern design, I encourage you to explore this art form. Keep experimenting with different styles and techniques to find your unique voice. Grab your sketchbook, embrace your creativity, and watch the magic unfold! Happy designing!