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These are actually birds

This looks like the inspiration for a marimekko pattern

With today's communication-opportunities, we can take part in the creative development of all the kids in the extended family. I often happen to have a picture in one of my streams, that show an opportunity for a nice pattern.

When I received a picture of the following painting (by Ray Kaipainen, 6 years old, detail) I had to think of marimekko-patterns on fabrics destined for children's clothing.

While I was initially thinking of migrating gnus or dinos, I was quickly corrected, that the animals in question were actually birds.

Process

It's tricky to keep the essence of the drawing and the sheer density and different orientations of the animals. The original painting would not let itself convert easily into a pattern, as the characteristics and size of the birds on both sides of the drawing were different.

I experimented with merging streams of birds, I tried to catch the different colour densities of the felt pen (while converting the painting into a vector style) and was looking for something more complex, than a rectangular pattern.

In the end, calculating an angle for the streams of animals given the angle and size of the birds, I believe, I managed to keep the basic orientation and feeling of the original painting. Combining multiple birds of different sizes from all over the source while keeping a loose style and thus breaking repetition and symetry, the outcome still has some of the chaotic nature of the original. I also experimented with different colour combination (or even only outlines), but settled for different hues of blue on white. The slightly different colours again help in making it more difficult to spot the pattern.

Results

I ordered two meters of fabric, enough for some small shirts and a skirt for kids made by Sabine Kaipainen (images of the shirts and skirt).

The following picture shows the pattern printed on cotton popeline.

Creating a second typeface