Hi there, Reader!

I thought it would be fun and helpful for you to show you a peek into the design process of one of my latest licensing collections.

I hope this is clarifying for you and gives you an idea of my behind the scenes process.

Almost every week, I am working on new artwork for licensing (unless I am focused on teaching...which is coming up soon in January! Join the waitlist for my next class here).

Now that I am represented by my art agent, my process has evolved from when I was working independently.

Every week, I jump on a Zoom call with my agent, Liz. We discuss upcoming art needs of the manufacturers she works closely with. What they need depends on the season and/or holiday they are working on.

Manufacturers send out "trend briefs" which are like visual mood boards or Pinterest boards.

These briefs are confidential to the manufacturers so I can't show them to you now, but below you can see a mood board I compiled myself earlier this year that gives you an idea:

This mood board served as inspiration for the general feel of my Romantic Spring collection that I created earlier this year.

Mood boards are a way to show the style or idea of what your collection will look like, not to copy the designs referenced. It's also a fun way to come up with your color palette.

I like to highlight a few keywords that describe what I'm going for (vintage, hand-painted, pastel), and name product categories I'm envisioning (stationery, gift wrap, wallpaper).

I knew I wanted this collection to be painted with watercolor, which definitely brings that "romantic" feel. I also knew I wanted to focus on pastel colors for a softer look, but brighten them up a bit so they weren't too pale.

Inevitably, I find that my final artwork veers away from the initial mood board. That's fine with me; I think of it as a jumping off point and not a strict guideline.

Below are some images from my process:

Once everything is painted, I scan them and bring the elements into Photoshop. It's there where I rearrange everything and the patterns come to life. (Side note: I'm thinking of creating a new mini-class showing my Photoshop process - reply back if you would be interested in that! :)

Once the collection starts to come together, I usually need to paint a few new things to round out any types of patterns I might be missing.

Here's a look at some of the final mockups I created to show off the designs:

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I've signed a few contracts from this collection so far (planner and notebooks, greeting cards, ceramic dishes and more), and I'm looking forward to hopefully more to come over the next year! Not every collection of art is going to be successful, but I am thrilled that this one is proving to be.

Are you ready to start creating your own artwork for licensing? Let's start with learning the ins and outs of the industry so you can feel confident moving forward.

Join me in January for my FREE Get Ready to License Workshop. You can go ahead and save your spot now, and I'll share more details as it gets closer.

Can't wait to see you there!

Until next time,