Lucky Penny
This ‘Lucky Penny’ is one of my favourite illustrations. It’s simple and sweet…and from a very tiny original illustration. I created the penny in a design challenge whereby the artist has to fill in 30 circles. To this day, it is one of my most memorable drawings. When I first started out on my illustration and design path, I really enjoyed these types of challenges. They pushed me out of my comfort zone and got me drawing again. There are lots of different challenges out there. Just search for 30 day drawing challenge and you’ll find a whole bunch of them.
Interesting Design Challenges
- Design Challenge for Threadless These t-shirts are so amazing. This is a great site to look at if you’re searching for a bit of design inspiration. Why not sign up for notifications about the latest competitions. This is a good way to get practice, but also to submit your designs and see what the audience thinks. Who knows…you might even get your design selected for the Threadless shop.
- Daily Logo Challenge I’ve just recently come across this website. I love that they’ll send you a different logo prompt every day for 50 days.
- 36 Days of Type The next type challenges will be starting in 2018. It’s interesting to look back on previous letters by designers for inspiration. For even more tips, ckeck out Mary-Kate McDevitt’s Skillshare class and her book about Hand Lettering. Some great vintage styles in there.
What did I use the image with?
I used this image when I learned how to screen print with Melissa Doran and Aisling Griffin at their ‘Let’s Create’ workshop in summer 2016. I used my lucky penny to make few interesting prints and I even went on to make a t-shirt and a tote bag. It was pretty tricky trying to cut out the image for the screen because is was so detailed, but it worked really well. I still use the bag all the time.
Future Projects
I’m really interested in pattern design now and I’d love to use this image or another version of it in my future patterns. Watch this space for a pattern project featuring my penny. Most note-worthy of all, check out this amazing Skillshare class by Bonnie Christine if you’re interested in patterning. Her classes are very easy to follow along with…you’ll be deigning patterns using your illustrations in no time at all.