Hand Drawn Snail Pattern

5/16/2020

This snail pattern is an oldie, but a goodie! :) I had originally drawn this back in 2014 in markers and ink, before I even started an art shop! I always thought snails had a quirky cuteness to them, so this little illustration became one of my very first patterns in my shop. Flash forward to today, and it's one of those niche drawings that I have that many of you have enjoyed, and purchased on a variety of products.

Looking back at it, one thing I would have done differently is kept the traditional look of the markers. I actually turned this drawing into a vector in illustrator, so that I could resize it for large products like duvet covers and curtains. It was a nice thought, but I could've just as easily scanned and used the original in a repeating pattern such as this! Ah well, you learn as you go. The original marker drawing actually has the snail sliding along amongst tall blades of grass. Now that I know a lot more than I knew then, I plan on revisiting this illustration and making a new pattern, keeping more of it's original charm.

While I look back at my oldest pattern I can't help but think of how I would do it differently now - but regardless, it is still an important piece in my portfolio, marking the first pattern I completed where I really felt myself falling in to a style and workflow. And more importantly, I see this pattern and think of how fun it was to draw this with my markers, and it inspires me to break out my traditional tools once again and do more like this! I plan on taking some time off from work this summer to give myself time to work on new pieces, and the light charm that this pattern brings is the direction I want to focus on.

Here is my snails pattern on a bunch of stuff - it is on the entire range of products at RedBubble and Society6, and on select products at Zazzle. Recently in the midst of COVID-19, I added fabric masks to my RedBubble product line up, and masks in my snail pattern are by far my best seller so far!