The inspiration for this design came from a short afternoon stroll that we took together with the children following a morning of heavy rain. With our wellies firmly on our feet, we set about exploring how the nature had changed.
We jumped in muddy puddles giggling profusely. Then, as the sun started to emerge from behind the dark clouds, we noticed the raindrops glistening on the leaves. Shining like little diamonds, we spent a while investigating their shapes and their beauty. The children were fascinated.
«Why when it rains a million drops per minute do only one or two stick to the leaves?»
This was the starting point for Raindrops. With our cameras in hand, we set about trying to capture the beauty of these little gems. As always, it is difficult to do justice to the natural beauty that we observed.
Shapes
Using our photos as a starting point, we set about trying to create a simple shape that would capture the generic form of the leaf. Drawing by hand is not a strong point for either of us, but we managed after, several iterations, to find a form that was simple and pleasing to the eye. An added complexity stemmed from that fact that the combination of water and sun seemed to accentuate the leaf’s texture. In the end, we felt that we captured this by adopting some simple shading techniques. Once we were happy with the form of the leaf and its texture, it was time to focus our attention on the raindrops. Finding an adequate means to capture what we were seeing was particularly challenging. It was clear that the raindrop clusters had to be organic looking, to capture the natural beauty. However, it seemed to us that in reality the raindrops were almost perfect ovals in shape. We finally created our clusters to emphasize heterogeneity in size, shape and form. We felt this provided the best representation of reality.
Colors
Greens and blues were an obvious choice to capture the freshness that we felt during our walk that afternoon. However, it was not easy to find the right tones that were also able to capture the warmth of that spring afternoon. We jumped back and forth between greens and blues, and reds and pinks for this reason. We knew the background should be vibrant but still a shade that would allow the leaves themselves to stand out. The raindrops themselves were always going to be painted lighter than the leaf adding a sense of detail and beauty to the otherwise simple form.
With the green and blue tones it was simple: blue would form the background (representing the sky) while green would be in the foreground (representing the foliage). For the pinks and reds it wasn’t as simple, but in the end we opted for a darker background as it allowed the warmth to shine through and provided a greater contrast for the raindrops.
We were unable to decide which better reflected the mood and the beauty of that afternoon, so the end product was a compromise. Two distinct designs were born: Raindrops, fresh captures the green and glistening nature that we noticed that April afternoon while Raindrops, warm encompasses the change in season as we moved from a cold cold winter towards warmer months.
Do you have a favorite? We would love to hear which speaks more to you.
If you love this print, you can place an order on our website: Raindrops, warm or Raindrops, fresh.
