The wild weather and terrifying tectonics we've seen in disparate places around the world this summer have been creating some unsettling new patterns in our collective minds. Wildfires, flash floods, heatwaves, tornadoes and typhoons are nothing new of course. But it does feel as if climate change is disrupting the patterns we've come to expect on a daily basis, and creating the conditions for more extreme weather to come. The unpredictable is becoming the norm, and we are learning just how quickly we may have to adapt. Here's hoping that wherever you are, you've still found opportunities for fun and relaxation in spite of it all. Read on for some brighter mood enhancement!
BEHIND THE BIG FLORAL
In the June issue of Shapeshiftr, I talked about the age-old appeal of floral patterns. There are countless ways to depict flowers in pattern design, running the gamut from highly stylized and abstracted (think Art Nouveau and Art Deco designs) to flat and graphic (think of a big damask pattern in a grand home) to something a bit more realistic (perhaps a chintz fabric on a bedspread).
During the month of July, I was busily working away on several concepts for a big, bold floral design that I hoped to print on a future table runner. I decided to combine a few techniques to create the final pattern, so I’ll take you through a bit of my process for developing this new design.
Realistic References
With a phone in my pocket at the ready for photography on the fly, I was drawn to some of the biggest, showiest flowers of the spring: the peony. This flower is loaded with petals, colour and scent, and its sensuous nature has been a draw for pattern designers for centuries. I’m no different.
I took photographs of a number of these flowers, shooting them from different angles. This is one of the secrets of a good floral pattern: not all flowers are seen from the same perspective. They definitely aren’t in their natural state. That’s one of the lessons I learned several years ago when I was developing some motifs for my Millefleur design.
Peony bud, big showy peony bloom and leaf example.
Lovely Linework
Bringing in my floral imagery to Adobe Fresco and Illustrator, I closely interpreted a few of my reference images to convey a sense of depth and an almost abstract, painterly quality. Another element I added was leaves, again sticking quite closely to the real-life foliage.
One thing I’ve enjoyed developing over the last couple of years is the use of fine lines in my motifs. I love the contrast between big shapes and almost spidery, thin lines tracing the edges in a loose way that adds some illustrative dynamism to the image.
I then combined these techniques to come up with a final motif.
One of my motifs for the Big Floral concept featuring the linework.
Choosing Colour
Guided by my reference images, I created colour palettes based on gradations of four main colours: the purply pink, dusky green and bluish purple shown above, along with a contrasting orangey-peach colour.
Colour palette shows the gradations. This is a good way to mimic continuous tones from photographs.
Using this technique enabled me to retain the depth in my motifs while creating streamlined and powerful images and allowing the shapes to sing.
Creating Contrast
Contrast is one of the great lessons of strong graphic design. One way to introduce it into this pattern is to contrast shapes and sizes, so along with my peonies and small, star-shaped blooms, I added a rose bloom and a favourite from my garden, the coneflower.
In the final design, I wanted a nice combination of curves and corners, of something voluptuous and something spiky, to keep the eye moving through the pattern.
Coneflower (Echinacea) from my garden.
Head-turning Half Drop
Finally, once I had all of my motifs completed, I had to decide how to put them together so I could maintain the scale and create visual rhythm. I settled on a half-drop construction, which naturally creates a kind of dynamic diagonal from top left to bottom right. Check out the diagram below to see the basic construction of the swatches. This also helps to keep your eye travelling around the pattern, looking for the repeat.
This diagram illustrates how pattern swatches repeat in a half-drop construction.
Pattern Pay-off
Here is the final pattern with both a light and dark background. My plan is to use these on new prints coming later this fall. I’ll be doing double-sided table runners, with a simpler geometric pattern on the back of both.
Finished Big Floral with two different background colourways.
This was a fairly long process for creating a pattern, but in the end, a very satisfying one. What do you think? I’m happy to hear your feedback!
Flaunt your Freebie
As mentioned above, I plan to print a simpler pattern on the back of these dramatic florals so there’s a choice to suit your mood. In the spirit of that idea, here’s a free download for you for your personal use, whether in a digital or a print application. Enjoy the rest of your summer!
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