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Pineapple Expression

By Pam Winters

Pineapple Expression

Inspired by the tools at hand, I let the project unfold. (All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)

Pineapple Expression

The journey began with a pencil sketch and quickly evolved from there. (All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)

Pineapple Expression

In order to “color in” the pineapple, I created shapes in Illustrator (left) and cut them on a CAMEO using special stamp material (right). (All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)

Pineapple Expression

The stamp pieces made by the CAMEO are mounted onto acrylic blocks, then inked. (All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)

Pineapple Expression

Once the colors are stamped, the pineapple image is inked and stamped on top. (All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)

Pineapple Expression

I started creating lots of gift wrap, cards and prints! (All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)

Pineapple Expression

I then decided to turn the image into digital art using Illustrator. (All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)

Pineapple Expression

Once the digital art was complete, I created a pattern and ordered custom gift wrap from Spoonflower! (All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)

Pineapple Expression

This project required a few tools and lots of patience! (All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)

Pineapples have been dancing through our minds and hearts in recent years. Based on this trend, I had pineapples on the brain when I met with some coworkers for a craft night. Before long, while chatting with my friends, I found myself sketching a pineapple, and then began hand carving a stamp using the supplies I had with me. As we wrapped up for the evening, sharing our projects with one another, I tested out the pineapple stamp on a piece of scrap paper. Not bad, I thought. Someone suggested the possibility of making pineapple gift wrap with the stamp, so I decided then and there that was exactly what I would do! I mean, even at the height of the pineapple’s popularity, it’s not every day you see pineapple gift wrap, right?

I came home that night, and stamped it again using darker ink. I could see my pineapple vision taking shape. Within the next day or two, I got the image carved the way I wanted, and that’s when the process of surface pattern experimentation really began for me. The pineapple looked good stamped on its own, but it needed something—a bit of color to fill it in. I started with colored pencils, making a few cards for friends that way, before gradually expanding my reach to other tools, including the Silhouette CAMEO and special stamp material for the CAMEO to cut. I now had shapes I could stamp first for the color portions of the pineapple, with the pineapple stamp being layered in a darker (chocolate) color on top. This was happening!

There is something unmistakably special about handmade gift wrap, but it’s also quite a challenge. Encouraged to keep going, I decided it was time to take my art to the professionals for the production side of things. So, I digitally traced a scan of the stamped pineapple image in Adobe Illustrator, for the purpose of creating a pattern to upload to Spoonflower’s website. Soon, my first roll of custom gift wrap made with the pineapple pattern arrived in the mail, and it was literally just what I had imagined!

It’s fun to look back and see how this project unfolded, one bit of inspiration at a time. How many things inspire us every day that we could potentially turn into something we only dream of right now? Please take a moment to let me know what’s inspiring YOU these days in the comments section!

Filed Under: Creative Journal Pam Winters Studio, Illustration Projects Pam Winters Studio, Uncategorized Tagged With: blog, design, drawing, Graphic Design, hand carved, handmade, Illustration, journal, pattern, pineapple, Portfolio, project, stamp, surface design

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Email: pam@pamwinters.com

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