Back to The Drawing Board is a collection of designs by Lorna Bates drawn from her extensive sketchbooks and combining a love of victorian wallpaper patterns with a fascination for the traditional techniques of freehand drawing as practiced by the designers of the era. Very British, traditional and sophisticated, this small debut collection is steeped in history and provides an exciting glimpse into the world of the victorian design school and in Lorna’s case the fine artist. There is a long tradition of painters and printmakers turning their attention to pattern design. These are the first exciting experiments by this innovative artist ........ ... plenty more to come.

Blueprint, Cream

Blueprint, Navy

Spray, Cream

Draughtsman's Rosettes, Blue

Ornamental Crosses, Yellow

Measure Stripe, Blue

Drawing Lesson, Blue

Ornamental Plant Pot, Olive

Ogee, Olive

Blueprint, Cream


Drawing Lesson, Blue

Spray, Cream

Measure Stripe, Blue

Draughtsman's Rosettes, Blue

Ornamental Crosses, Yellow

Ornamental Pot Plant, Olive

Ogee, Olive

Art Print: Ornamental pot plants

notebook mockup, Ornamental Plant Pots, Blue

Mockups courtesy of Freepix


Lorna's sketchbook - drawing rosettes

Drawing exercises later used for motifs
17th century dress from Bangor Museum and Art Gallery

Resulting Colour Palette
The colour palette shown above was inspired by the wonderful 17th century costume which can be seen at the Bangor Museum and Art Gallery in North Wales.