I found these images by using Multicolor Search Lab. Have you ever used it? If you like playing with colours, you’re in for a proper treat.
1. Bright yellow flowers in punk bursts, by Crystal A Murray.
2. ‘Mythologie.ch’ by _underscore
3. Created using GlitchMonkey, by Juan Antonio Zamarripa
4. Rust-O-Vision by Tim.
5. Torn, but alive. By Aftab Uzzaman.
Posted by thefty on 07/06/2012
http://top5photos.wordpress.com/2012/06/07/top-5-yellow-and-fuchsia/
I love geometric shapes. In my head, they all have personalities. Triangles, for example, are more playful than rectangles. Triangles hang out with the other cool shapes, including hexagons and parallelograms. (Right angles are for squares…har har.)
1. ‘Bees and Triangles’. A digital print created from repurposed vintage artwork! By Bonjour Frenchie Art.
2. Vintage Fabric Buttons. Found in ColinBoy’s shop.
3. ‘Mountains’ greeting card, by Katy Goutefangia.
4. A colourful print by Owl You Need Is Love.
5. Tiny brass earrings, by Saffron and Saege.
Posted by thefty on 29/05/2012
http://top5photos.wordpress.com/2012/05/29/top-5-triangles-2/
Whenever I’m feeling uninspired, I head to my local plant nursery. There’s so much to see there, and it changes all the time. I always come home with a camera full of pictures and a head full of ideas.
1. Huge grey/green leaves and striking fluoro blooms.
2. Leafy rosettes with hints of blues and reds.
3. Spiky, flame-like flowers and delicately painted leaves.
1. Stripes and spots and punchy hues.
3. Bubbly, dappled, heart-shaped leaves.
(All photos taken by me. See more on my Flickr page.)
Posted by thefty on 14/03/2012
http://top5photos.wordpress.com/2012/03/14/top-5-shapes-colours-and-patterns-at-the-plant-nursery/
Hello! I’ve been painting stripes all week (look here), and it got me thinking about how much I love this particular pattern. There’s something so clean and simple – yet so striking – about stripes that makes me want to put them on everything. Here are 5 examples of stripes in my artwork. (I could easily do another TOP 5 of stripes in my wardrobe (in fact, I could do another ten TOP 5s on that topic. ahem.))
1. This one lives in my living room.
2. This one was inspired by a song.
3. This one is unfinished, and will soon be covered in doodles.
4. This one is painted onto the back of a bookshelf.
5. This one features a good friend and some good stripes.
What’s your favourite pattern?
Posted by thefty on 09/03/2012
http://top5photos.wordpress.com/2012/03/09/top-5-painted-stripes/
A kaleidoscope is a tube containing beads and a set of angled mirrors. As the tube is rotated, the beads’ reflection in the mirrors creates beautiful, symmetrical patterns.You can read more about it here. In the meantime, click here for a digital kaleidoscope you can rotate with your mouse. You’re welcome!
1. This jewel toned image was actually taken inside a kaleidoscope. Photo by Crystal A. Murray (what an appropriate name!).
2. This is a glow-in-the-dark children’s toy. Incredible! I want to mount this on my wall! Photo taken (with the lights off, of course) by Jason.
3. This wasn’t taken through a kaleidoscope. This is a straight-up photo of a cactus. Nature knows the score, my friend. (By Daniel Kulinski)
4. Kaleidoscopic Rose, by Lucy Nieto.
5. Niklas Barsk took this through the giant kaleidoscope at Nagahama. I love that it looks so spherical, like some sort of crystalline planet.
A teleidoscope is like a kaleidoscope, except you can see through it, and can create patterns made from what you see on the other side. I’ve got a teleidoscope (it lives in my pencil jar on my desk). Click here for TOP 5: Teleidoscopic.
Posted by thefty on 29/02/2012
http://top5photos.wordpress.com/2012/02/29/top-5-kaleidoscopic/
I remember my grandmother’s sewing tin (it was a floral cake tin). I used to empty it out as a child, making patterns on the carpet out of the buttons and ribbons and spools of yarn. Not much has changed, I guess.
1. String! String! String! String! (and colour, of course)
2. Animal Pins! By Katie Nicosia
3. I took this photo at the Barcelona flea market. (I love piles of shiny, colourful things. I want to stick my face into them.)
4. Fabric spools with fuzzy ends. Peaches, purples, pinks and blues. Photo by Elton Lin
5. Long threads of yarn in primary colours. Photo by me
If you follow this blog, you probably already know that I look for colour and pattern everywhere. I just can’t help myself.
Posted by thefty on 24/02/2012
http://top5photos.wordpress.com/2012/02/24/top-5-sew-and-tell/
Diamonds don’t have to be real to be awesome. In fact, they don’t even need to be 3D. Have a look at these:
1. An incredible wood veneer collage by Ron van der Ende.
2. Technicolour tessellation by Morgan Blair.
3. ‘Diamond’ ring by Nylon Sky, Photo by me, hand modelling by Greek Street!
4. A subtly coloured diamond print by Aesthetic Apparatus. (I wish this pattern came as a duvet cover.)
5. Jewel-toned…jewels. Found here, original source unknown.
Posted by thefty on 30/01/2012
http://top5photos.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/top-5-diamonds/
You’ve probably figured out by now that I’m a fan of shape and repetition. In case you have not, take a look:
1. Hearts in nature.
2. Home-made hearts.
3. Hearts on a store front.
4. Hearts on a back door.
5. I wear my heart(s) on my feet.
Posted by thefty on 05/07/2011
http://top5photos.wordpress.com/2011/07/05/top-5-hearts-2/
I love finding patterns in my surroundings. In this case, it’s miles and miles of squares.
1. Pieces of chocolate.
2. The print on a dress.
3. White outlines on paving stones.
4. Tiles on the floor.
5. Intricate beadwork on a jacket.
Posted by thefty on 14/06/2011
http://top5photos.wordpress.com/2011/06/14/top-5-squares/
I like looking around and finding the same shapes everywhere, be they in the natural or man-made world. It gives the world a sense of order and continuity.
1. Natural pom poms.
2. Man-made pom pom.
3. Our gloriously round planet.
4. Perfect yellow yolks.
5. Coral spheres.
Posted by thefty on 23/05/2011
http://top5photos.wordpress.com/2011/05/23/top-5-spheres/
Delicate things.
1. Veiny patterns on a transparent petal.
2. Lace on lace.
3. Shadows and scrawlings.
5. A gauzy window.Posted by thefty on 03/02/2011
http://top5photos.wordpress.com/2011/02/03/top-5-lace/
Have you ever seen David Doubilet’s underwater photography? I love it. Take a look over here.
1. My lovely fish bone earrings from Topshop.
2. Holy mackerel! (Fresh from the sea.)
3. Home made sushi.
4. An awesome lunch from Borough Market, London.
5. A decorative batik.
Posted by thefty on 28/01/2011
http://top5photos.wordpress.com/2011/01/28/top-5-fish/
‘A motif, pattern, or design depicting abstract, nonrepresentational shapes such as lines, circles, ellipses, triangles, rectangles, and polygons.’ See here.
1. Clashing stripes (+punchy blocks of colour).
2. Curves Versus lines.
3. A vintage Mondrianesque dress.
4. Strong shapes /delicate jewellery.
5. The wildly patterned fabric on the Bakerloo Line, London Underground.
Posted by thefty on 30/12/2010
http://top5photos.wordpress.com/2010/12/30/top-5-geometric/
‘The (polka dot) pattern is named for the dance of the same name, but there is no conceptual connection linking the pattern to the dance. Instead, the name was settled upon because of the dance’s popularity at the time the pattern became fashionable.’ You know what? I love Wikipedia.
1. Dots on the table (and dots on the cupcakes).
2. Glowing dots under a south London bridge.
3. Glassy dots on a staircase.
4. Chocolate dots in a tasy, tasty cookie.
5. Nature’s got dots, too.
p.s. COLLECTIVE 5 is a weekly photo project involving your photos. Click here to join in.
Posted by thefty on 14/10/2010
http://top5photos.wordpress.com/2010/10/14/top-5-dots/
A Teleidoscope is like a kaleidoscope, but instead of containing beads, it has a lens you can see through. I was given one by a stranger (long story) and I pick it up at everyday and walk around, peering at everything multiplied, tessellated and reflected. Gosh, I’d always wanted one of these – I just didn’t know it.
1. This is my teleidoscope (like a kaleidoscope, but better).
1. Through it, my wrinkled pyjamas become intricate and beautiful.
2. My eyes grow in numbers.
3. The browns and whites and pinks of my eye turn into petals.
5. On the other side.
p.s. COLLECTIVE 5 is a weekly photo project involving your photos. Click here to join in.
Posted by thefty on 29/09/2010
http://top5photos.wordpress.com/2010/09/29/top-5-teleidoscopic/
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![Daniel Kulinski](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3067/2761778873_8806001885.jpg" width="500" height="485" alt="Sharp"></a>){kind=link}
![Lucy Nieto](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3149/3282182332_b67b7a6272.jpg" width="500" height="500" alt="Kaleidoscope Rose (San Valentín Classic) 3109-1"></a>){kind=link}
![Niklas Barsk](http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2715/4499467349_b063df5ce5_z.jpg" width="559" height="640" alt="Kaleidoscope"></a>){kind=link}