Step-By-Step Tutorial: How to Draw the Houndstooth Pattern

A very classic and popular pattern for clothing, especially coats, jackets, and hats, is houndstooth. This pattern is usually seen in black and white, although any contrasting color scheme is possible. The name “houndstooth” is an attempt to describe the angular, intricate repeating pattern; it is called “pied de poule” (chicken foot) in French, but I like to think of it as “bunny in a bow tie” (more on that later).

Although the houndstooth pattern looks extremely intricate, it is formed of very basic geometric shapes – squares and stripes – and can be fun to doodle, once you get the hang of it. Many people find doodling relaxing and meditative, and some people find that doodling helps them concentrate. If you like to doodle or draw intricate or repetitive patterns, you may find learning to draw the houndstooth pattern to be very enjoyable. I have broken it down into very easy, illustrated steps so that you can easily learn to draw houndstooth right away!

1. Draw a light grid or use graph paper. Draw and fill in every other square in a row, skip a row, then repeat.

2. Draw diagonal lines that exactly bisect each orthoganally-adjacent square. So, everything to either side, and above or below, your black squares.

3. Draw smaller lines on each side, so that those squares are divided into four parts. The little squares that are left with no lines are your white squares (or whatever color the paper is). As you draw, you will see that they will follow the same type of pattern as the black squares – there will be a white block every other square, with a striped square on each of its four sides, on the alternating rows. This is what will create the houndstooth pattern.

PLEASE NOTE: you do NOT draw a border or outline around these striped squares. Part of the stripes will connect to your white areas, so you don't want to “cut through” them.

4. Here's the tricky part. These squares are going to be striped in alternating black and white. That's clear enough. But, when going across, the stripey squares between the solid black squares all "start" with black in the lower left corner, and the next row down - where the stripey ones alternate with the solid white squares, the pattern is reversed, and the lower left corner is white.

The easiest way for me to remember what goes where is to see this pattern as a "bunny in a bow tie". Both sides of his little bow tie need to be the same color.

5. Continue as desired

You may find it easier to draw the pattern larger, especially if you would like to keep the smaller stripes more uniform and precise. This could also be easier if you are just starting to learn how to draw the houndstooth pattern, or if it is difficult to see or to draw the pattern at a smaller size.

Beneath the smaller houndstooth pattern on the graph paper below is a reference for houndstooth using a 2x2 pattern (each block is 2 across and 2 down, for a total of four graph squares in each block of solid or stripe). I left it partially unfinished so you can see how it is easier to draw the smaller connecting lines of the stripe sections in the houndstooth pattern. 

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial! Join me on my Facebook page for more shenanigans! 

Cover image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houndstooth#/media/File:Houndstooth.jpg

Step-by-step images, my originals (see copyright notice)

HIMI Jelly Gouache Color Review #3: Pale Green

 

This is the third in a series of reviews of the individual colors from the HIMI brand 24-color “jelly” gouache paint set. This review will concentrate on the Pale Green jelly gouache color and will also include updates on my Star Trek painting and how my swatch chart is coming along and how the gouache set is holding up.

In previous reviews, I described my swatch charts and how I would be reviewing the HIMI gouache colors as I opened each one up to use in a small painting with a mythology/Star Trek theme done on a birthday card for a friend. The painting is an outdoor scene, and I paint back-to-front, so the first order of business would be establishing the thing that is ultimately the most background-y thing in a landscape: the sky. After HIMI's Sky Blue color turned out not to be what seemed like a softball (here's that experience: https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2023/06/himi-jelly-gouache-color-review-1-sky.html), I was able to make a decent sky out of Acid Blue (who knew?) and, of course, white. Details here, if you haven't seen that one: https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2023/07/himi-jelly-gouache-color-review-white.html

Now, the search is on for an appropriate color for the grassy meadow. There is literally a color in the set called Grass Green, but I wasn't going to be fooled again. In my wisdom (or maybe just cynicism), I started with Pale Green, a much less intense color. What the heck, I figured – it's easy enough to paint over. The swatch chart is not gonna fill itself.

HIMI Jelly Gouache color number 005- Pale Green

So, Pale Green is EXACTLY AS ADVERTISED. It's pale green. It's actually pretty much – at least it appears on the brown kraft-paper card – a mint green. Lovely color; not very grassy. Anyway, I painted the whole meadow anyway, so that when I painted over it, the color would be consistent. This ain't my first rodeo, y'all.

I swatched out Pale Green on my black and white charts by itself and also mixed 50/50 with White, Sky Blue and Acid Blue. 

It makes a nice emerald color when mixed with the Acid Blue. The Sky Blue didn't affect it much other than cooling it a bit. The White, predictably, just made it very minty. The opacity of this color is very impressive, and the granularity is very low. It's a smooth color, just not very grassy. Oh, well! Live and learn.

Here are the first four colors as I have them arranged in my set (picture was taken before swatching).

The Acid Blue is still a bit creamy, but the Sky Blue and the White have dried out a bit. Never fear! These paints aren't like acrylics – they don't dry waterproof. All it takes to revive them is a bit of water. You can drip clean water off your paintbrush, or if you would like to revive several, or all, of them, a little spray bottle does the trick nicely. I got this one from the dollar store. It works well, and it's super cute!

Next up, we'll see if Grass Green wasn't lying to me like Sky Blue did. 

Here is the first article regarding the unboxing and the overall quality and appearance of the 24-color HIMI jelly gouache set:

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2023/03/unboxing-himi-jelly-gouache-24-color-set.html

For regular shenanigans, please follow my Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/allsortsofart

HIMI Jelly Gouache Color Review: White, Acid Blue

In the prior review https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2023/06/himi-jelly-gouache-color-review-1-sky.html,  I described my swatch charts and how I would be reviewing the HIMI gouache colors as I opened each one up to use in a small painting with a mythology/Star Trek theme done on a birthday card for a friend. The painting is an outdoor scene, and I wanted to start with the sky, but alas, Sky Blue turned out to be a bit too purpley - more of a periwinkle color (see above pic). Knowing that Ultramarine and Cobalt would also likely be too warm, I turned my attention to the blue that was most like Cerulean, called Acid Blue. It was very dark in the jelly cup, so I knew I would need White, as well. 

HIMI Jelly Gouache color number 108- White 

I opened the White first and swatched it in beside Sky Blue on my charts. Of course, you can't tell much from the white charts, but it had pretty decent opacity on the black charts and no granularity to speak of. It appears to be a good neutral white, with no hint of cream or grey that might skew it warm or cool. I mixed equal parts of the White with the previously-opened Sky Blue to create my first mix at the appropriate intersection on my swatch charts. It created a nice pale lavender.  

HIMI Jelly Gouache color number 017- Acid Blue 

Acid Blue isn't a typical color name, but I would liken this to cerulean, or perhaps phthalo blue. As with the other colors, it stirred up to a smooth, pudding-type consistency (not like a jelly, as the name implies) and applied smoothly to the swatch charts. The Acid Blue had good opacity and minimal granularity when diluted. When mixed with the White, it made a good sky color (middle). It also made a nice turquoise when mixed with the Sky Blue (right). Yay! I was able to start on the card. 

I laid in the sky and then used the White to indicate some clouds. With gouache, as with other paints, it's best to work lean-to-fat, so I started with a thinner wash, which I built up where I needed to. As you can see, the brown of the kraft paper shows through somewhat in some areas of the wash. I built up the wash to be more opaque in most areas, but I did leave some of this slight brownish tint showing, as I liked the aging effect. This was a conscious design decision by me and shouldn't be taken as an evaluation of the paint's coverage. 

The thing about gouache is that it's flexible - like traditional transparent watercolors, you can use varying degrees of dilution to control intensity, but unlike transparent watercolors, you can control the opacity, as well. Being able to go back in and rework the paint is very handy as, as well. I was able to go back in with just a wet brush to smooth out a couple of spots, and once the gouache dried, I was able to evaluate the respective values and add volume to the clouds with a heavier application of the White to add thicker-looking, highlighted areas. 

In the next post, I'll start the hunt for the right grass color! 

Here is the first article regarding the unboxing and the overall quality and appearance of the 24-color HIMI jelly gouache set:

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2023/03/unboxing-himi-jelly-gouache-24-color-set.html

For regular shenanigans, please follow my Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/allsortsofart 

HIMI Jelly Gouache Color Review #1 – Sky Blue, Swatch Chart, and Star Trek Painting Project

Recently, I posted about receiving and unboxing the 24-color HIMI gouache set. https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2023/03/unboxing-himi-jelly-gouache-24-color-set.html 

I am a planner, so before I opened any of the colors, I planned out a fairly involved set of swatch charts to show how the colors would look on light grounds and dark grounds, as well as on more-absorbent and less-absorbent surfaces. I used white watercolor paper as a light, highly-absorbent surface, and black bristol board (Strathmore Artagain) as a dark, less absorbent surface. Each chart actually has four pages, as I wanted to show how each color mixed with the others, but Page One, pictured, shows how the colors look in the palette before going into the mixing charts. Although you don't have to go to the lengths of making a chart to show all the mixes (and mine only shows 50/50 mixes of each color with one other color), it's recommended to at least make a basic swatch chart for your colors, as gouache tends to dry lighter or darker. 

To save time and materials, I decided to make my swatch chart concurrent with a painting project that would use a good variety of colors. A friend of mine had expressed a fanciful desire to see a Renaissance-style painting based on Star Trek characters, with Captain Kirk as a satyr, playing a pan flute, and Captain Picard as a centaur, playing the flute played by his character in an episode of Star Trek: Next Generation. This struck me as fun, so I made some sketches for the design, which would be incorporated into a birthday card design for her. I transferred the design to a kraft-paper card stock, and I plan to open each color in order as I needed it, adding it to my swatch chart and using it in my painting. 

HIMI Jelly Gouache color number 049- Sky Blue 

As you probably know if you've read my painting tutorial https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2015/09/step-by-step-painting-fantastic-mr-foxs.html , I like to start from the background and work forward. I decided to show my satyr and centaur frolicking in a pastoral setting typical of Renaissance work. Planning for a sunny meadow scene, I would first need a blue sky with some fluffy clouds. One of the colors is named Sky Blue, so that was clearly a no-brainer to open first.

It's no surprise to see it be a little messy at first; having sat for a while since it was filled up, the pigment and binder had separated a bit. However, a thorough mix brought it to a smooth, pudding-like consistency. I added it to my swatch charts, first as a whole-strength color on the “palette chart” section of the chart (that's the section on Page One that shows the colors all together as I have them arranged in my physical palette) to establish the base color and to check the opacity. Then I filled in the home slots on the color mixing section as a gradation, to check for granularity and transparency. In those sections, all the mixes will appear as gradations. 

The Sky Blue applied smoothly and mixed with water easily to create a transparent wash with very minimal granularity. So far, so good, except that this “sky blue” is far too warm to be an accurate representation of actual blue sky, except perhaps at sunrise or sunset. It's a lovely color, but it's really more of a periwinkle blue. A good, sunny sky needs something more like cerulean. Alas, I couldn't start on my painting, yet, but I found my groove with the next two colors. I'll show you next time!

For regular shenanigans, please follow my Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/allsortsofart

Unboxing the Artownlar 72-Piece Art Supply Set

 

I was poking around at the new closeout store, where I had promised myself not to buy anything that I did not currently need or would not use on a regular basis. Rather than pawing through the bins like other people, I just kind of held back, strolling around slowly, waiting for something to catch my eye.

Well, the word “art” caught my eye. Sticking out of a jumble was a thick box labeled “Drawing Art Set – 72 pieces- Premium- Professional Art Supplies”. The brand name, “Artownlar” sounded like one of those nonsense names Chinese companies come up with based on a realllly loose knowledge of English, but hey, the first three letters had done exactly what they were supposed to do – get me to pick the box up and look it over. No-name brands are notorious for being crap, and cheap art supplies are also notorious for being crap, but it said 72 pieces, and it had some heft to it, so for the low, low price of $10, I was willing to take a gamble. After all, not all Chinese stuff is crap - the HIMI gouache paints have been superb!

The package was sealed, so I looked at the box for some hint of what was in it. I expected a photo or at least some details on the box, but all there was on the packaging besides the cover illustration was a blurb that described the contents as a " charcoal drawing set”. well, I highly doubted there were 72 pieces of charcoal in the box. Since there was a color illustration on the lid, I figured it was probably a set of pastels. 72 pastels for 10 bucks? Yes, please! I bought it.

When I got it back to the studio and opened it up, I got my first pleasant surprise: It came in a zippered set, along with a decently-sized pad of drawing paper. I haven't opened up the paper yet to check the quality (reviews to come!), but it does say 80 lb. That's extremely heartening, since sketchbook paper is typically about 65 lb. Heck, my favorite drawing paper, Strathmore 400 series, is 80 lb, so: cool. The pad has a standard amount of pages – 60 – mostly white, but some tan and some black.

I opened the zippered case, and it's a trifold, just chock full of stuff. Not pastels, but several different kinds of pencils. And when I took photos for this article, I realized that if I had looked more closely at the bar code, I would have had a heads-up about that:

In the left-hand section, a set of charcoal pencils, some black and some white, plus three tortillons (blending stumps), a sandpaper block, a pencil sharpener, a white plastic eraser, and a kneaded eraser. That section right there is worth at least 10 bucks, as is the drawing pad (okay, maybe $8 for the pad, without knowing the quality). 

But wait, there's more! There's a set of regular colored pencils and a set of metallics, a set of watercolor pencils, and a water brush (plastic fillable brush - you squeeze a bit to let water flow through the brush part), and your basic range of drawing pencils. what a haul! Each of these three sections is worth what I paid for the whole thing, not even counting the drawing pad.

There is even some info regarding social media - and apparently some tutorial videos on YouTube - ah, cross-branding!--included. I haven't watched any videos, yet, but please feel free: 

Okay, maybe I shouldn't be so yippee about it, because I haven't tested anything, yet. Maybe the water brush leaks and the watercolor pencils are terrible; maybe the colored pencils are chalky and the paper has no tooth; maybe the charcoal pencils are actually colored pencils (that actually happened to Super Rae Dizzle when she ordered “charcoal” pencils from TEMU). Maybe the sharpener isn't sharp and the kneaded eraser isn't kneadable. But I'll bet most of the stuff is just fine. The carrying case is pretty good quality, and I can put my own stuff in there, if worse comes to absolute worst. At any rate, the set is being sold for $25 on Amazon and up to $39.99 on other sites, so I got a great deal, pricewise. I'll do a little testing and get back to you to let you know if this is a box of awesome or not.

More fun with art supplies: 

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2023/03/unboxing-himi-jelly-gouache-24-color-set.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2014/12/little-angels-craft-project-cheap.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2015/09/step-by-step-painting-fantastic-mr-foxs.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2015/09/step-by-step-painting-fantastic-mr-foxs_5.html

For regular shenanigans, please follow my Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/allsortsofart

Unboxing the HIMI Jelly Gouache 24-Color Set

 

Full disclosure: I haven't used gouache since art school, although I do have fond memories of it. But gouache painting has recently come back into vogue, thanks in large part to “art YouTube”, and I was reminded of how much fun it was. I have been seeing a lot of art vloggers rave about the so-called “jelly gouache” produced in China by the Miya company under the HIMI brand name. I decided to order my own set to see what all the fuss is about.

If you are unfamiliar with gouache (pronounced GWAHSH), it is typically described as an opaque watercolor, although when diluted with water, it can be used transparently, as well. As with traditional watercolor, it doesn't dry waterproof, so be aware that if you paint over it, you could activate the dried layer if you use enough water. This can be great, as it makes the colors blend easily and gives you the ability to soften edges and spread color. It can also be annoying, of course. Be careful not to get drips or spatters of water on the dried paint surface, as this can create spots.

The opacity enables you to use the paint on dark surfaces, though, which can create interesting results. I painted this nighttime scene of my bedroom with white gouache on black bristol board. I especially like the reflection of the edge of the pillow against the night-darkened window glass. That kind of effect would be harder to achieve with a different medium. 

Gouache paint dries matte, like that tempera paint you probably used in grade school. The two paints actually look very similar in their finished state, but tempera dries permanent and gouache is rewettable/reworkable, as we've discussed. The paints have different binders – traditionally, egg yolk for tempera and gum arabic for gouache. There is a type of gouache called acrylic gouache that dries permanent, like acrylic paint, but the HIMI gouache is not acrylic gouache.

The 24-color HIMI set is very popular and very easy to find from Amazon, Wal-Mart, and other retailers for about $30. It's an extremely good buy, considering that you get a generous amount of each color, packaged with a mixing palette and a set of three gouache brushes all in a securely-fastening carrying case. The case is available in several different colors. I chose the bright orange so that it would be very easy to locate when stored among my supplies. The tangerine-colored heavy plastic case also coordinates well with one of the tumblers I use to hold supplies, as seen here. What's not to like?

The case has flip-up tabs in the front and back that hold the lid securely on. Once it's removed, it can be placed beneath the tray to keep everything together. The mixing palette sits atop the tray, and within the tray sit the 24 “jelly cups” of gouache, along with a set of brushes in a plastic bag with a ridiculously cute little suit-wearing bird design.

When the gouache is unopened, it presents a pretty bland display, as the peel-off tops are opaque white. The color names and numbers are printed on the tops, but many of the color names might not be easy to visualize. Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Umber, and Black are no problem, but Ponceau (similar to Cadmium Red) and Acid Blue (similar to Cerulean or Pthalo Blue) aren't such familiar names. My theory is that they are substitutes for colors with more expensive pigments (Cadmiun Yellow is also not present), but there is a Cobalt Blue, so I'm not sure what to tell you (other than do not eat it). [Editing note - I see from the listing that this gouache is actually non-toxic, so less worry about eating it, but that also tells me the Cobalt Blue is probably not made with actual cobalt, which is lightly radioactive.]

Fortunately, the plastic cup itself is clear, so to see the colors, simply turn them over. Ponceau and Jade Green are the colors pictured here.

As a matter of fact, I would highly recommend flipping all of the colors over straightaway so that you can arrange them in the tray as you want. If you just start peeling the tops off the colors all willy-nilly, you may realize that you don't like the way the colors are arranged and will then have to try to pry the now-open cups out of the tray (they fit rather snugly) without getting paint all over yourself and the other paint.

I've arranged my colors, but I won't be opening them willy-nilly. I plan to be methodical about the whole operation, making sure to record the color names and numbers (for re-ordering purposes, in case I run out) and creating a big ol' swatch chart to show what the colors look like both on a white background and on a black background (fun fact – gouache does not dry the same color as it looks wet – it may dry lighter OR darker) and mixed with one another, so stay tuned for further posts about that fun project, which will also include individual color reviews.

Image credit: my photographs. May not use without permission.