In this week’s free episode of Deke’s Techniques, Deke finds inspiration in what I considered a fairly mundane pattern on a chair we saw in a San Diego hotel room. Deke has never met a pattern he didn’t a) like and b) want to immediately replicate in Illustrator.

He starts with guides fashioned from a hexagon, center lines, and a couple of carefully chosen angles, then adds this simple (but meticulous) line segment with just five clicks (and a whole lot of careful math).

Next, he uses Adobe Illustrator’s excellent duplication and rotation features to arrange this segment into a shape that is then further duplicated and rotated to create a negative space white star in the center.

Is it true that I now “like” it as Deke suggests? Well, anytime I can learn how to manipulate Illustrator with math and replication, I’m happier than when I have to actually rely on my non-existent drawing skills. And finding inspiration in uninspiring decor is a pretty awesome skill and a nicely optimistic way of wandering through the world.

Deke’s Techniques, releasing stellar shapes from staid sightings.