Hello, my name is Debbie Clapper,
and I'm a doodle addict. Greater Cleveland Area

Drawing nearly every day since the age of 9, I have mastered the art of freehand drawing and painting without the aid of a ruler or straight edge. I have built a lush career around pattern illustration via my passion for abstract optical illusion art. Heavily inspired by M.C. Escher and graffiti, my work strives to inspire and ignite imagination in all who interact with it. Over the last 19+ years, my funky yet sophisticated designs have brought life to brands such as Smartwool, BOA Technology, Hope Hummus, Rickshaw Bags and Pactimo.

I specialize in black white line, doodling, drawing, graphic design, illustration, murals, patterns, pen and ink, typography.

You can also find me on:

Debbie Clapper's Uploads

Sharpie pattern doodle in a Moleskine sketchbook.

Zoomed in shot of "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead". Created in 2012. Size: 22” x 30” / Micron Pens on Archival Paper. This piece was all drawn freehand - no rulers or measuring tools were used to create this artwork. 2019 kinda looked like this. It had a lot going on. Lots of changes. A close friend of mine predicted 2019 would be "The year of change", and she was right… at least up in my neck of the woods. Anyway, it has been full of good, fun and challenging things – all worth while. Excited to dive into 2020.

Threw together this pattern study last week. Been using Posca pens since December and I'm loving how quickly they dry. I can throw together quick sketches without having to worry too much about smearing the ink as I move along.

Zoomed in shot of "Pattern Interrupt". 2020. Size: 32" x 40" / Micron pens on archival museum board. This piece was all drawn freehand - no rulers or measuring tools were used to create this artwork.

Layer patterns with Sharpies.

Quick cube pattern sketch study.

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"Whirlwind 22”, an original drawing. Micron pens on archival paper. Size: 4” x 6”. Title, signature, and date in the back of the drawing. This drawing is the 22nd in a series of drawings posted over a period of 100 days. The original post date on this drawing was September 22, 2020.

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“Whirlwind 9”, an original drawing. Micron pens on archival paper. Size: 4” x 6”. Title, signature, and date in the back of the drawing. This drawing is the 9th in a series of drawings posted over a period of 100 days. The original post date on this drawing was September 9, 2020.

Getting triangular weird on top of some op art scribbles.

Funky take on a box pattern.

Swirls and Triangles. Hard to capture that metallic gold ink.

Freehand doodled scale pattern.

11x14 freehand pattern study.

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“Whirlwind 5”, an original drawing. Micron pens on archival paper. Size: 5” x 7”. Title, signature and date in the back of the drawing. This drawing is the 5th in a series of drawings that were posted over a period of 100 days. The original post date on this drawing was September 5, 2020.

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"Whirlwind 23”, an original drawing. Micron pens on archival paper. Size: 4” x 6”. Title, signature, and date in the back of the drawing. This drawing is the 23rd in a series of drawings posted over a period of 100 days. The original post date on this drawing was September 23, 2020.

Posca Pens on archival paper. Size: 11" x 14"

Bubbly goodness!

Black lines on black lines. Pattern mix experiment.

This sketchbook is all about triangle patterns! Each page starts with a base layer of connecting triangles. From there, I fill in different patterns on each page, challenging myself to come up with new ideas for each page.

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“Whirlwind 2”, an original drawing. Micron pens on archival paper. Size: 4” x 6”. Title, signature and date in the back of the drawing. The original post date on this drawing was September 2, 2020.

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"Whirlwind 24”, an original drawing. Micron pens on archival paper. Size: 4” x 6”. Title, signature, and date in the back of the drawing. This drawing is the 24th in a series of drawings posted over a period of 100 days. The original post date on this drawing was September 24, 2020.

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Debbie Clapper's Uploads