Imagining Bloom Scans

A week or so ago I was intrigued by a Gardens Gone Wild post. I clicked on the link in my sidebar and discovered a whole new world of artistic beauty that I’d never heard of…scan art. GGW is challenging one and all to practice scanning flowers, leaves, and all sorts of botanicals before the October Picture This theme.  Craig Cramer will be the judge for the digital collages entered in the monthly contest.  Of course, I checked out his site and was captivated by his bloom scans.  He's generously provided directions for creating gorgeous scans. 

Like a wild woman, I clicked my way across the information highway searching for more information to feed my artistic soul. Anxious to give it a whirl…I put some weeds on the scanner, covered it with a black sweater and well…

it looked horrible like a pile of weeds on a soiled, gray rag. I did a little tweaking in Picasa, but there's not much I can do to make a bad composition look better, except try again. 

I gave it a few days and began thinking about the principles of floral design. Sure I could lay flowers and leaves on the scanner, but to artfully arrange each component with line, pattern, texture, and color in mind creates something far more beautiful. Instill movement within the static and the scan becomes more interesting. Even a sense of depth can be worked out. So I tried again, this time putting into practice basic art principles.

I started with a simple combination of three marigolds and the squiggly curls from a pumpkin vine 

Next I gave Queen Anne's Lace a go, but switched from the black sweater to a piece of deep red felt to lay over the arrangment.

I moved on to pumpkin blossoms, rudbeckia, and again the curls using the same red felt.

Finally I arranged marigolds, rudbeckia, with spirals and curls to add interest and a sense of movement to the design. 

I'm excited about this new-found art. I can't wait to try mounds of flowers and plants arranged on a wide variety of backgrounds.  The possibilities are endless.

"The world is but a canvas to imagination."

~Henry David Thoreau