New Work: Watercolor Cocktails

watercolor cocktails
watercolor cocktails
watercolor cocktails
watercolor cocktails

For someone who doesn't drink a lot of alcohol, it might be a bit strange to post an article about cocktails, but I was inspired to paint a few of them because of their amazing colors, and experiment with my watercolors. I let you enjoy this list of 10 cocktails you will fall in love with!

Tutorial #2: How to make a repeat pattern in Photoshop

how to make a repeat pattern in Photoshop
how to make a repeat pattern in Photoshop

Hi everyone!

It has been a while I am thinking about showing here the process I take to make a repeat pattern, but today is the day I am finally taking the time to do it. I decided to make a floral-leafy pattern, Below you can find the steps I took to get to this result:

Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 20.29.18
Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 20.29.18
Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 19.57.39
Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 19.57.39

1. Here are the various loose flowers I made with watercolor.

2. Select one by one the drawings you want to keep with the lasso and copy them all into a new document, preferably square (mine is 5000 x 5000px). I made it huge because I always scan my drawings at 600 dpi; I can always make it smaller later.

Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 20.09.29
Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 20.09.29

3. Move the elements around in order to make a composition you are happy with. It doesn't have to fill the square (you will see why in the next step).

Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 17.36.48
Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 17.36.48

4. Group all the loose elements together with CMD + G or CTRL + G.

Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 17.43.42
Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 17.43.42

5. Duplicate the group you just made by dragging and dropping the group onto the new layer icon.

Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 17.45.32
Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 17.45.32

6. Select one of the two groups and press CMD + E or CTRL + E or go to Layer > merge layers and make the other group invisible.

Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 20.12.40
Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 20.12.40

7. Select the active layer and go to Filter > Other > Offset. If your layer size was like mine 5000 x 5000 px, enter 2500 and 2500 as values for horizontal and vertical.

8. You now have a cross in the middle, that you will have to fill with other loose elements to make the pattern seamless. I don't like to fill the square until the edges too much, because the smaller the cross you have to fill later, the more the chances you will have for the 'seam' to show. I hope this makes sense!!

Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 20.13.31
Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 20.13.31

Now, make this layer 30% opacity, and make the other group visible again, so you can differentiate which flowers are on which layer.

Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 20.26.00
Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 20.26.00

9.  Now, you can organize the elements as you want to make the pattern harmonious. Watch out now not to put any element out of the square. I like this method, because you can see if you have two of the same elements next to each other.

Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 20.29.18
Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 20.29.18

10. We are almost done. Now, increase the opacity of the merged layer back to 100%.

Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 20.30.59
Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 20.30.59
Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 20.30.17
Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 20.30.17

11. To finish, you can go to Edit > Define pattern. Give it a name and save it.

Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 18.25.20
Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 18.25.20

12. You can now try it in a new document.

13. Create a new layer and fill it in white (Use the paint bucket tool (G)  or press Shift + Delete).

Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 18.31.01
Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 18.31.01

14. Double-click on the layer you just created to add a new layer style.

Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 20.32.26
Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 20.32.26

15. Click on the pattern window and you will be able to choose the new pattern you defined. By default, it shows up at 100%, so very big in my case.

Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 20.33.35
Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 20.33.35

16. You can now adjust the scale you want for your surface!

And we are all done! I hope you liked it! If you are doing it another way, or if you know some tips to do it more efficiently, don't hesitate to share it in the comments!

Download: Free desktop wallpaper #2

Here comes the second round of free desktop wallpaper! I wanted something fresh and fruity this time, to add some bright colors to the winter. I hope you like them. Also, I am preparing a new tutorial on how to make a repeat pattern, taking my lemon pattern as example. I will release it soon! In the meantime, you can download and enjoy your wallpaper for desktop or smartphone here! I would be curious to know which one you prefer and what would you like as a subject for a next wallpaper freebie! Let me know in the comments.

mauve lemons pattern + macbook
mauve lemons pattern + macbook
pink lemons + macbook
pink lemons + macbook

New Work: A small guide to air-purifying houseplants

Houseplants-illu
Houseplants-illu

When I lived in Holland not so long ago, my house was full of plants. I really like having plants around me. Unfortunately at the moment since I moved to Barcelona, I haven't been able to put as many plants as I wish in my house, and that might be why I am drawing so many plants. I hope you will enjoy this small guide to air-puryfing houseplants as much as I enjoyed to illustrate them!

Download: Free desktop wallpaper #1

Today, I would like to introduce a new ongoing series: Desktop wallpapers downloads! For now, there are only 2 versions of a pattern you might already have seen in my pattern calendar, but soon there will be more! You can of course use them for your desktop computer, but also for your smartphone or tablet. You can download them here. I hope you will like them!

winter leaves dark + macbook
winter leaves dark + macbook
winter leaves + macbook
winter leaves + macbook