Woven Octagonal Stars

A Monthly Pattern | May 2026

This month’s pattern is a repeating pattern of eight pointed stars, decorated to look like two interwoven squares.

The inspiration for this pattern was this page of parquet flooring designs from Franz Sales Meyer’s Handbook of Ornament:

All of these would make a great starting point for a pattern and it would be an interesting exercise to draft them all. I particularly like No. 8, perhaps that could be a future month’s pattern! No. 10 has similarities with January 2025‘s hexagonal border so you could use that construction as a starting point if you were interested in trying it.

Outlines for this pattern are available for all members below and your drawing and painting video tutorials, along with all the supplies I’ve used for this project, can be found in the Pattern Lovers members section.

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Tagged Square Grid Patterns Tiling Patterns

Italian Floor Tiling

A Monthly Pattern | April 2026

This pattern is one of two in F. M. Hessemer’s 1842 pattern resource which includes designs from Italy and from the Islamic world. This is attributed to a pattern of tiles a church floor from Florence, so I’ve painted it using the same palette of colours as used in the book which resemble different colours of marble tiles and used the qualities of watercolour to bring out that sense of them being stone. (I do like the colour illustrations in this book)

I do love analysing and recreating patterns and this one was no different! It may be more straightforward in terms of being made up of simpler shapes than recent patterns in the library, but it’s very rewarding to draw and paint.

If you’re a Community tier member, check below for your monthly downloadable files so that you can paint this pattern.

For Pattern Makers, you’ll find two videos this month; a ‘drawing’ video where I share the process of making the pattern using ruler, pencil and compasses. The second video is a painting video where I share my watercolour process. You’ll also see my supply list for this project including all the colours I used.

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Tagged Square Grid Patterns Tiling Patterns

Curved Tiling Pattern

Curved Tiling Pattern | A YouTube Pattern

How to make a tessellating pattern of decorative tiles.

This video is available as a free YouTube tutorial with ads available from the button below, or as an ad-free version for paid members further down the page.

Community members will also find some downloads for this pattern, a traceable and a print and paint version to get you started quickly!

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Tagged Square Grid Patterns Tiling Patterns

Tiling Patterns Inspired by MC Escher

A Monthly Pattern | March 2026

For this month’s videos (and there are three!) I’ve ben working on some patterns inspired by dutch artist M.C. Escher. He was very interested in tiling patterns and turned his tiles into birds, beasts and people.

In the first video for Pattern Lovers this month, I share my deconstruction of one of Escher’s famous patterns – of reptiles covering a page. I show how you can take a regular shape and turn it into an irregular one that still tiles and fills a plane without gaps.

The second video shares two patterns I’ve made using this technique: one the image of birds that you can see in the preview images, and another of daffodils.

The third video is the process of painting those birds, which I did in this case using Neocolour ii water soluble crayons on watercolour paper.

If you’re a Community tier member, check below for your monthly downloadable files. You’ll find a basic hexagon you can use as a starting point, traceable outlines of the bird and flower motifs I created in the second video and a whole page of repeating birds made as a print and paint download.

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Tagged Hexagonal Patterns Tiling Patterns

Alhambra Planes

A Monthly Pattern | September 2025

This month’s pattern is a tessellating shape that takes its inspiration from tile work at the Alhambra Palace – a great source of pattern inspiration and one I’ve covered before and no doubt will revisit in future. I’ve looked for a name for this pattern and come up with several people are using – variations on plane or aeroplane and ‘tacas’ which google translate tells me means peg or cleat in Spanish. They do look a little like those sneaky stealth planes! I didn’t have a name for them when I was playing with the pattern so I’ve been calling them ‘interlocking arrowheads’. To research this pattern, I used the classic ‘Grammar of Ornament‘ from 1856 which features this design in its section on patterns from the Alhambra.

If you’re a Community tier member, check below for your monthly downloadable files so that you can paint this pattern. There are ‘print and paint’ options, with very feint grey lines that you can print onto watercolour or mixed media paper from your home printer and start painting straight away. These are A4 and letter sized files so choose the one that matches your paper. The other download option is a traceable file. This is the same image but with a black outline. These you can print out and trace to your final paper or sketchbook. Either use carbon paper to transfer or scribble all over the back of your printout with a soft pencil and use that to transfer the line. You’ll also find a link to the forum where you can share your work with us, ask any questions and get support.

For Pattern Makers, you’ll find two videos this month. I decided to split the process into a ‘drawing’ video where I share the process of making the pattern using ruler, pencil and compasses. The second video is a painting video where I share my watercolour process – and add some gold outlines. You’ll also see my supply list for this project including all the colours I used.

For Pattern Lovers, I shared two variations of this pattern live on zoom on 27th September. You’ll find the recording of this session below, and some extra downloads for the pattern variations.

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Tagged Islamic Geometric Patterns Tiling Patterns

Decorative Scallop Pattern

A Monthly Pattern | July 2025

In this month’s video, I’m returning to a favourite pattern – scallop shapes – only this time repeated to make an ogee shape that then tiles across the page.

The pattern was inspired by this book: A text book dealing with ornamental design for woven fabrics by Stephenson and Suddards. I’ve actually used a design from the same page previously!

This was a pattern that featured in my Ko-fi membership from July 2025.

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Live Session Info

This pattern was created before I began doing live sessions.

If there had been a live session for this pattern, you would see the archived recording here.

If there is a live session to be scheduled and you are a member of the pattern makers tier, you would see the zoom link and schedule information here.

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Tagged Scallop Patterns Square Grid Patterns Tiling Patterns

Tetrahedrons

A Monthly Pattern | June 2025

This month I’ve been going back to basics a little in shape (though it was still a good challenge to construct!) but playing more with colour as I painted.

This was a pattern that featured in my Ko-fi membership from June 2025.

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Live Session Info

This pattern was created before I began doing live sessions.

If there had been a live session for this pattern, you would see the archived recording here.

If there is a live session to be scheduled and you are a member of the pattern makers tier, you would see the zoom link and schedule information here.

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Tagged Isometric Patterns Tiling Patterns

Escher’s Game

A Monthly Pattern |March 2025

In March 2025, I played with a pattern that I came across while reading about MC Escher. Alongside information about his prints using tessellating shapes, explorations of perspective and representations of infinity, was a tiny section about a ‘game’ he made up for himself by carving a small stamp and playing with the pattern variations.

This video is a recreation in watercolour of one of his patterns and instructions on how to go about constructing this and developing many more patterns from this one building block.

This was a pattern that featured in my Ko-fi membership from March 2025.

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Tagged Square Grid Patterns Tiling Patterns

Geometric Scallop Pattern

Geometric Scallop Pattern | A YouTube Pattern

How to create an art deco inspired scallop pattern in watercolour and gold pen.

This video is available as a free YouTube tutorial with ads available from the button below, or as an ad-free version for paid members further down the page.

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Tagged Scallop Patterns Tiling Patterns

Art Nouveau Snowdrops

A Monthly Pattern | February 2025

This month’s pattern is a scallop repeat with a snowdrop design, loosely inspired by art nouveau designs using stylised spring bulbs and totally inspired by enjoying the sight of real snowdrops brightening up a dull grey February!