I’ve always been inspired by nature, and the bold, tropical beauty of Canna Indica leaves provided the perfect muse for my latest design project. Just look at these incredible variegated leaves!
I started by painting a single Canna Indica leaf in watercolor, capturing its vibrant greens and rich textures.
I don’t recommend creating a pattern from one single leaf painting. Ideally, I will paint 3-5 good versions of a motif so I can be sure my pattern has some variety. The leaf texture was tricky for me to capture. I decided to see what I could do with this single leaf before I go back to attempt more and work it into my collection.
This plant doesn’t grow individual leaves but creates a bundle together. To capture that idea, I wanted a pattern that filled the frame with layered leaves. I used some tricks for layering motifs to arrive at the balance you see in the repeat below.
Canna Leaf Layered - available for licensing
I’m including a video of the 13 different iterations I worked through in Photoshop as I refined the repeat to achieve balance and flow.
Whether you’re a fellow artist or simply love botanical motifs, I hope this inspires you to explore new ways to bring nature into your creative work.
Tell me in the comments: What other product mockups should I try this pattern on?
Are you struggling to develop repeat patterns or create mockups to use in social media and your shop?
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