IF: Pattern part 2

I mentioned it in my last post - but this is my most successful piece on Shutterstock (a site where one can upload their illustrations and/or photographs and make money if anyone downloads them...):

And what one must do when they upload their work as stock imagery is have a variety of options (such as variation on shape and color and composition)

What follows are the original images I created with these dots that eventually led to the image above.  If I never continued to experiment on this theme, I would have never run across my most successful image ever:

               

I had 6 versions (some were really bad and weren't uploaded) before #7 (which is the good one up above).  Spurred on by the success of all of these files, I continued with these ones (the first one, is my second most successful dot pattern illustration):

          

The third image (just above) with the 3D looking dots was accomplished using the 3d effect in Adobe Illustrator and then applying a warp effect.

And finally I decided that I had jumped the shark when I finished with this image:

  

It's just really really really lame.  But I thought i was creating a really cool pattern with these tube dots.  Turns out that wasn't the case...and it hasn't had one download.  But I don't blame people, it's a horrible looking piece.

I did revisit the theme a couple of times more, with color changes (because I can't ever stop)...

     

So when I say I'm done with this theme, I really only mean that it's on hold until I can think of another way to apply the dot pattern in an interesting way.