Mixing pattern and floral art

It is enjoyable to mix pattern with floral art. It gives a lovely mix of shapes and design. It enables you to use colour in a more personal and creative way.

I have done a selection of paintings in this style. They are mixed media works. They started as simple acrylic paintings, but I added detail in pencil crayon, white ink and black ink.

I allowed the background to become as important a feature as the flowers themselves. I either did a contrasting background or allowed the same colours to be used on both, to unify the design.

I did not worry too much about being botanically accurate. It is obvious the painting is about flowers, but I have moved floral shapes around a bit, here and there, to enhance the overall look of the work.

Here's the first one, that is based on some Pacific coast irises.  I have added a lot of texture to this one with overlaid coats of paint.I have added stripes on to the leaves, to blend in with both the flowers and the background blues. The background itself is a dotty pattern.

Here is another one, where I have made a strong design in the background. This is composed of lots of swirling shapes that take your eye around the painting. The flower shapes have been simplified, and the shading made in to blocks of bold colours.  The stems of the plants give a framework to the whole design.

My next painting is also based on irises. The background is broken in to fairly random shapes! The whole design has been outlined in white to break up the shapes of the flowers and the background. The colours are similar all over with tone being achieved with dots and dabs of paint. It creates its own pattern with stripes and triangles being the main shapes.