I get a lot of questions if there is a program that converts a picture into a pattern. To my knowledge there is no satisfying one. I like to draw my patterns on my old Wacom drawing board (15 years and still going strong) in Gimp (free drawing, photo program).
I have a setup of two screens (laptop and main computer) and I use one display for my models in several positions and a screen (attached to my main computer) to 'draw' on. My office is paperless and even my sketches I do freehand on my wacom.
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/ee743a_3a2f08fec46341358ba96404e1644777~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_669,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/ee743a_3a2f08fec46341358ba96404e1644777~mv2.jpg)
The advantage of going fully digital is I have no paper waste as I often change my mind and throw away more then I keep :)
So I do a first setup, a few lines show me already if I can work with the drawing or not (for copy reasons I have to watermark all my jpg's)
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/ee743a_927e0cb0228f4d1694fcc73ff9d44952~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_815,h_1123,al_c,q_85,enc_auto/ee743a_927e0cb0228f4d1694fcc73ff9d44952~mv2.jpg)
As you see here, this is not a professional drawing yet, and I almost threw this one away, but I liked the eye setup, so I took a bigger brush and started to fill in some quick shadows
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/ee743a_11880f9399f44d17aa0ecbc7a83b17c5~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_804,h_1053,al_c,q_85,enc_auto/ee743a_11880f9399f44d17aa0ecbc7a83b17c5~mv2.jpg)
This made me more happy. I love to work in this blue (also my logo colour) as it is easy on my eyes, black is so dark and I often work with my layers (in Gimp you can put a drawing over a drawing over a drawing, each drawing called a layer) see through, so I can still see my outline.
Now here comes my little trick: I put a raster (horizontal and vertical lines) over my drawing, each square (windows for interlocking, 3 dc's for mosaic) is 3 dc's.
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/ee743a_91dd1b44166c4d98a33b0c3bab0d3dbc~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_1564,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/ee743a_91dd1b44166c4d98a33b0c3bab0d3dbc~mv2.jpg)
Then I put my drawing of my Leopard behind it and start to outline the stitches.
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/ee743a_6e43d95158bc479f81c83c32c6fe346a~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_1424,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/ee743a_6e43d95158bc479f81c83c32c6fe346a~mv2.jpg)
You can see that this drawing is far from being a pattern, so I create my upper layer over these and start to draw over the raster, pixel by pixel
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/ee743a_7eff5005ece746d6a3b233618fdf8396~mv2.jpeg/v1/fill/w_980,h_1360,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/ee743a_7eff5005ece746d6a3b233618fdf8396~mv2.jpeg)
For security reasons I had to blur the picture but you get the idea how a drawing for a pattern is made :)
Then I zoom out and in often, and finally when I am happy I have the drawing but not the pattern.
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/ee743a_ed9d037c74ae447bba6600259ec52862~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_1344,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/ee743a_ed9d037c74ae447bba6600259ec52862~mv2.jpg)
So the drawing is finished ;) and now the big trick starts. I import the full drawing into excel and start working
That will be a next blog :p
Wauw so much respect for actually all designers. What a ……. Load of work is it to create a pattern for us. this is gonna be a great friend for next to the tiger on my couch when I’m finished. Love it. Thank you for your beautiful realistic patterns
génial😍