How to Draw a William Morris Style Pattern Step by Step

What you need before you start

Nothing specialist is required. The list below is general guidance, not a sourced specification, because the museum records used for this article describe the finished drawing rather than the tools used to make it.

Gather the following:

• Sheets of paper large enough to square up into a grid in pencil.
• A pencil for the squared grid and the first sketch.
• Watercolour or coloured pencils for the later stages.
• A ruler for the grid.
• Tracing paper, useful for testing how a motif joins at the edges.

The evidence: how a Morris pattern was planned on paper

The V&A holds a preliminary drawing for the 'Grafton' wallpaper design, made in watercolour and pencil on paper. According to the V&A's record, the design was designed by William Morris and published by Morris & Co., and is dated 1883 and made in England.

The drawing itself shows what the planning stage looked like. The V&A describes brown foliage and green stems with flowers on a pale ground, with the paper squared in pencil and watercolour outlines demonstrating how the design would join up in a repeat. The foliage colour is hedged in the source as possibly brown, so treat that detail as uncertain.

The printed wallpaper followed from this planning. The V&A records that three blocks were used to print Grafton, which was available as both a two- and three colour pattern.

Step by step: drawing your own repeating pattern

These steps are a general method inferred from the documented Grafton drawing, not a tested or historically documented procedure. They translate what the V&A describes, squared paper and outlines showing the repeat, into a sequence you can follow.

Work through the stages in order:

1. Square your paper. Rule a light pencil grid across the sheet, as the Grafton preliminary drawing was squared in pencil before any colour went down.

2. Sketch one foliage and flower motif in the middle of the grid. Aim for stems with leaves and flowers, drawn loosely at first.

3. Plan the edges. Extend stems so they run off each side of the unit, and note on the grid where each stem exits and where its matching stem should enter. This is what the watercolour outlines on the Grafton drawing demonstrate: how the design joins up in a repeat.

4. Test the join. Redraw or trace the unit and place a copy beside the original, checking that stems meet convincingly at every edge.

5. Add colour last. Work from a small palette, keeping the number of colours close to what a block-printed pattern would have carried.

Tips for pattern art specifically

Think in repeats rather than single pictures. A wallpaper unit is only half the work; the other half is the join, which is why the Grafton drawing shows outlines demonstrating how the design connects across the repeat.

Practical points to keep in mind:

• Keep the colour count small. Grafton used three printing blocks and was sold in two- and three-colour versions, so a limited palette is faithful to the source material.
• Draw foliage that flows. The Grafton design shows stems and leaves growing across the ground rather than sitting in rows, so let stems curve and overlap.
• Use the squared grid throughout, not just at the start, so edge positions stay accurate as the motif develops.

Common mistakes

Most first attempts fail in the same few ways. Each one is easy to correct once you know what to look for.

Watch for these errors:

• Drawing a single motif with no repeat plan, so nothing joins at the edges.
• Overcomplicating the colour scheme when the documented pattern worked with three blocks at most.
• Drawing stiff, symmetrical plant forms unlike the flowing growth seen in the Grafton drawing.

Quick checklist

Students and teachers can tick off each point before calling a pattern finished.

Before you finish, check:

• The paper is squared in pencil.
• Stems are edge-matched, with every exit point paired to an entry point.
• The colour count is limited.
• Foliage flows rather than sits in rows.
• The repeat has been tested by redrawing the unit beside the original.

Where Morris-style drawing fits in his wider work

The exercise sits inside a longer design history. Britannica also states, as that source's own interpretation, that Morris did not arrive at his mature style until about ten years later, with the 'Jasmine' and 'Marigold' papers.

For readers who want the wider story, there is more on William Morris's life in the main biography, and more on Morris for GCSE students covers how to build an artist research page around sources like the V&A's Grafton record.