floral goodness

I have been hanging out in gardens a lot lately and the lovely Lantana flower struck my fancy. I fell in love with the colors and geometry of the maturing petals. The flowers move through phases: each stage becoming more beautiful than the last. The image to the right shows the Lantana just before opening. Below are the blossoms, effortlessly and elegantly transitioning from one hue to the next.

Florals have always and forever been a major corner of the market in textile design. They have been done every single way in every single style so it is very hard to conjure up a fresh look with florals. That is where personal style comes in. Anatomical representations of flowers don't require much consideration when you already possess the drawing talent, so personal style is where you can earn some originality points. 

I whipped out my watercolors and started playing around. I wanted to abstract the shape of the flower and maintain a free-hand look. However to highlight the strong geometry of the bud seen above, I created a more synthetic looking motif to lurke in the background (literally). I wanted to preserve the watercolor elements, so I placed the motifs on the original texture of the paper. The evolving coloration in the petals translated perfectly into the loose watercolors. 

This is a very basic repeat setup, and the beauty of Computer Aided Design (CAD) is that I can create 30 more samples using these motifs with much less effort than with a hand-drafted pattern. I expect to take these motifs a little further, creating a more intricate design as well as smaller coordinates. Maybe I'll throw in a stripe if I'm feeling giddy. It feels amazing to get back into painting; I haven't dedicated this much time to painting in months and months (there was quite a dark period there, post-stolen-gouache).

I have some crafty projects that I have been working on, requiring a few posts, so until next time..
-e