Hibiscus Pattern, Digital Art, 2020

Hibiscus Pattern, Handkerchief Design, Digital Art, 2020

Hibiscus Pattern Design Process, 2020

From top left:  iPhone photo of fallen bloom; Mask of bloom created with PhotoShop for iPad; Trace of masked bloom created with Adobe Fresco; Second trace with color added; Trace of calyx; Trace of Hibiscus bush leaves; iPhone photo of pink hibiscus bloom; Mask of pink bloom created with PhotoShop for iPad; Trace of masked pink bloom created with Fresco.

Hibiscus Pattern with Color Variations, Digital Art, 2020

In the summer of 2020, I found an odd bloom on the ground in an area where we have a bird bath, hibiscus plants, and other flowers and shrubs.  I had built a pathway of mulch through this area, and this pale bloom appeared to be attached to one of the decaying sticks.  I thought perhaps it was a fungus, because it seemed to have roots wrapped around the stick.  I went on a number of plant identification social media sites and posted the photo with the question.  No one knew what it was. I searched through dozens of online gardening images and couldn't find anything like it.  I finally realized that it came from our pink hibiscus bush nearby - that the calyx had fallen, and the bloom was attached to the calyx and did its best to form in spite of separation from the hibiscus bush.  I took a number of photos of the bloom on the ground and also the hibiscus bush.  I scanned them into PhotoShop for iPad and masked them, and then used Capture and Fresco to trace the flower and add color.  For the background, I "placed" a photo I took of a pile of dead leaves in our garden into Illustrator and then applied "Image Trace," the recolor tool, and some filter effects.  I then assembled all the pieces into the final hibiscus pattern.  When I look at the pattern now, I remember the feeling that summer that a strange and wonderful flower fairy tale had visited our garden.