Happy Labor Day creative friends! The sun is shining, school is back in session, and I'm excited to have some creative time again. Today I decided to take my work outside and enjoy these last days of summer. It's been ages since I've created a floral pattern, and I've been admiring the wildflowers (weeds?) that are in bloom along the path I run on. So, I decided to snap some photos and use them for a new thank you note design.
A couple of posts ago I hinted at my love of Micron Pens. They are my go-to when I'm illustrating plants and florals. The pack comes in 3 sizes, which I've shakily illustrated below (note: do not drink lots of coffee before lettering or illustrating!). My tendency is to use the larger 05 tip, but the plants had some smaller details in my sketches that I thought would be easier to capture with smaller 01 tip.
I had sketched in pencil the plants that I had taken photos of. Guess what? Nature isn't perfect, so neither do your sketches need to be! I try to take note of the interesting shapes and imperfections. I think that's what makes floral illustrating so fun! I lay a piece of tracing paper over my sketches, then ink in with the Micron Pen.
After the inking was complete, I scanned everything into my computer, live traced in Adobe Illustrator, and began the "puzzle" of organizing the illustrations on the page.
After the design was organized, I would usually colorize everything in Illustrator, but today I thought it would be fun to create a "coloring book" effect by leaving everything outlined. I took advantage of the blending opportunities of the ZIG Clean Color Brush Pens and had some fun!
All done! My birthday is coming up so I can use this design for my thank you notes. I will probably colorize the design in AI at some point - I'll be sure to share the final product when I do!
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