Hundreds of Eyes in the Dark

Creating a surreal animal pattern inspired by dark fairy tales and predatory beasts

Black Cat Yellow Eyes Pattern 03 cropped.png

Privately I'm calling this series "Hypervigilance Kitty". A visual metaphor for a beast on the prowl, the ultimate hunter. But instead of being hypervigilant from fear, like what happens to some people when they experience trauma, the beast is fuelled by hunger, always on the lookout for its next prey.

Creating the pattern started with an ink painting.

![[Surreal Cheetah painting Process 14 sec.mp4]]
https://youtu.be/v52A_2mrsoo

The first version of the design wasn't quite right. When it was turned into a repeat, the form of the animal hide was too noticeable. Instead of forming a solid wall of shapes that the eyes can dance across, it looked like a bunch of hides stitched together.

This only became apparent when the whole design was complete.

![[Black cat yellow eyes pattern tidy process.mp4]]
https://youtube.com/shorts/U0omCWtOETo?feature=share

I went back and added to the painting, increasing the negative space around all the eyes/spots, letting go of following the jaguar hide reference too strictly.

And when filling in the gaps in the repeat, I used larger eyes instead of smaller ones, and focused on creating a continuous flow.

![[Surreal Cheetah Pattern 02 Process 14 sec.mp4]]
https://youtube.com/shorts/mdGPOtXunmk?feature=share

Now when the whole pattern is tiled it is much smoother and its hard to see where it repeats. The eyes just want to keep moving across the image.

Black Cat Yellow Eyes Pattern process 14.png

The design is currently up in Spoonflower's New Animal Prints design challenge, until August 26. Your Vote would mean a lot. (https://www.spoonflower.com/design-challenge/new-animal-prints-2025-08/vote)

Picture a scene in a fairy tale, the hero looks into the dark jungle and they see a bunch of spooky eyes reflecting back at them. But instead of it being a bunch of different creatures, the true horror is just one creature with hundreds of reflective yellow eyes. Can you picture it slowly emerging from the shadows?

The beast is fuelled by hunger, always on the lookout for its next prey.

Instead of it being a bunch of different creatures, the true horror is just one creature with hundreds of reflective yellow eyes.

Can you picture it slowly emerging from the shadows?

Hundreds of eyes in the dark Draft
Black Cat with Yellow Eyes Sticker Pattern Tote