Decoration of the director field at nematic/air interfaces:

a) Homeotropic anchoring. Repulsive and isotropic interaction between droplets leads to formation the hexagonal close packing.

b) Conical anchoring. Anisotropic quadrupolar interactions between droplets lead to formation of chains of droplets parallel to the director field.

c) Conical anchoring. Decoration of the director field in vicinity of a pair of +2pi and -2pi umbilics by chains of droplets.