Inspired by Carleton Varney

     Over the past few months, I have created several designs inspired by Carleton Varney, owner and president of Dorothy Draper & Co. Inc. Bold stripes, bright colors, and floral patterns  are a few major staples of Varney's design style, and I have incorporated those elements into the following projects.

Color Project: March 2012

     In this design, I created a pattern and color scheme inspired by Varney's style. I mixed 60 colors of gouache paints using red, yellow, blue, black, and white. I created the 12 primary, secondary, and tertiary colors and two tints and two shades of each.

     The design was inspired by Varney's words,"I think in terms of walking through a beautiful garden that makes people happy." The alternating diagonal lines symbolize a journey throughout the design, as if the viewer is wandering through a garden. The pointed corners where diagonals meet suggest movement through the design, which Varney often creates through baroque styles. The flowers are included to show the garden itself. The colors I have chosen depict the quote because of their natural flow; each flower, for example, has petals of the same or similar colors. Also, the overall color placement is interesting to look at and evokes a positive, happy feeling.

     The geometric flower shapes in the design are meant to reflect Carleton Varney's love for floral patterns. The horizontal, vertical, and diagonal stripes are inspired by a rug Varney designed that can be seen here.

     Within individual pieces of his designs, Varney often uses monochromatic or analogous colors. Then he complements those colors with surrounding pieces in a project. To illustrate this in my design, I used groups of monochromatic and analogous colors and surrounded them with their complements. This can be seen in the reds and greens in the upper left of the design, in the oranges and blues on the upper right, and in the yellows and violets at the bottom of the design. Another element of Varney's style that is incorporated into this pattern is a gradual change from a tint to a shade. This is included in the monochromatic sections of the design, especially the oranges in the upper right, which range from the lightest tint to the darkest shade.

A few final thumbnail sketches I created while refining my pattern

Draft of color placement within pattern

Final painting on 18"x18" illustration board.

Line Project: February 2012

In this design, I created a black and white design which included elements from Carleton Varney's style as wells as a three-dimensional effect. I used thick, bold lines and flower shapes in the design to represent Varney's style of design. To create a 3-D effect, I drew bigger flowers farther from where the lines converge and smaller flowers toward the vanishing point. I decided to make all the lines vanish at a point in the visual center of the board so the viewer's eye would be immediately drawn to the smallest flower and the most interesting part of the design.

Final line project on 18"x18" illustration board

Choosing a Designer: January 2012

     I chose to begin this series of projects relating to Carleton Varney by research famous interior designers. After seeing some of Varney's designs and reading about his career, I became very interested in him. I started my Varney-inspired projects by researching his background and design style. To show my understanding of some important aspects of Varney's life, I created a poster including a summary of his background and design style, photos of him and his designs, and a few quotes that encapsulate his style. I designed the poster itself in a way that reflects Varney's design style; in other words, I tried to design the poster the way Carleton Varney would do it if he made it himself.

Carleton Varney poster on 24"x36" foam board