Peony Mural Design Using A Free Texture

This peony flower grunge mural uses my peony photographs with this month's free texture and overlay as well as elements from current and future collections.

Bedroom Mural Design

My goal for the design was to create a modern touch of romance without overwhelming an interior with color. It would be perfect in this modern New York loft style bedroom.

Living Room Grunged Elegance

The modern romantic design pairs equally well with a living room interior.

Creating The Design

The Photography

The flowers are peonies from my garden that I photographed. These were photographed with a Canon 7D with a Canon 60mm Macro lens. I now use a Canon 5D MKIII camera with a Canon 100mm Macro, but that former set up was quite good. While I normally photograph against a white background or even on a lightpad, these peonies were photographed against a yellow background. (I initially had the idea of doing a design with a yellow base.)

Photoshop Processing

I then use Photoshop to select the flowers and isolate them from the background so they are easily placed into my designs.

I want my florals to almost look like illustrations, so I really push them in my processing. I use Topaz Labs* filters to draw out as much detail as I can get. (see note about this.)

I like to start with very vibrant, detailed flowers, but then I tweak to suit the design. For this design, I also used the Topaz Labs Impressions* filter. Note: The creative filters from Topaz Labs are no longer for sale. I'll have to find an equivalent filter in the future for demos. Basically, you will want as much detail and clarity in the flowers as you can get - without it going harsh and contrasty. This will have to be an entire post!

The yellow tinge around the edges of the flowers (see below) is because I photographed them against a yellow background. It's something I would have to take into account when using in a design. In this case, I desaturated the overall color with a Photoshop Hue/Saturation layer adjustment.

Other Graphics

Besides my peony photographs, the mural uses these graphic assets. Check out the Resources below for links.

Resources

• Free Texture and Overlay: The texture and overlay are nice and big - 7400 px wide. The overlay was used changed to a white color and set to Screen blend mode. It works really well as additional grunge with this texture. Put it over the flowers for additional grunge depth! Subscribe for our free graphics library. Freebies are available for approximately 2 years. New freebies every month. Get The Freebies
• Quatrefoil Pattern Overlay: The Complete Inspirational Textures and Elements Collection.This collection is a bundle of 4 texture collections and many elements including pattern overlays, vintage French, ornamentals, paint spatter, masks, and grunge overlays.
• Future Collections: I'm working on quite a few collections of vintage French graphics. More French receipts, butterflies, ornaments, and more. Be sure to subscribe for notifications!
• Topaz Labs Filters. Yes, this is an affiliate link (I'll get a commission if you buy through this link) but honestly, I can't live without their filters! They no longer offer their creative filters, but their photo enhancement filters are great for sharpening focus, increasing resolution, etc. Visit Topaz Labs
• Interior Mockups are by MyHomeMockups on Creative Market. I love their mockups! Really lovely designs, easy to use, and my artwork looks great.