Final product image
What You’ll Be Creating

In this tutorial you will learn how to use the Mesh Tool and the Warp effects as well as how to make your images look better with some simple tweaks to Transparency settings—all while creating a flowerpot full of realistic daffodils!

If
you’d like to skip this tutorial and wish to purchase the end result with a couple more different flowers, head
over to GraphicRiver to purchase Spring and Summer Colorful Flowers in Vases.

Spring and Summer Flowers
Spring and Summer Colorful Flowers in Vases

Let’s get started!

1. How to Create Petals

Step 1

Create a yellow ellipse.

yellow F9D539 ellipse

Step 2

Using the Mesh Tool (U), place a mesh node in the middle of the shape.

mesh node in the middle

Step 3

With the Convert Anchor Point Tool (Shift-C), convert the rightmost node by clicking on it and drag it to the right.

rightmost node converted and dragged a bit to the right

Step 4

Create a Mesh, as shown in the screenshot.

5 rows and 4 columns of Mesh

Step 5

Color the mesh nodes as in the picture.

Color the petal a bit darker on the bottom and on the left

Step 6

Flatten the left side of the petal by dragging the nodes.

flatten the left side

Step 7

Create a new row of mesh by placing a node with the Mesh Tool (U).

New row next to the left side

Step 8

Color the rest of the petal accordingly.

color the middle lighter and the borders darker

Step 9

Now, draw two brown lines with the Pen Tool (P).

create two curved lines making a shape similar to a contact lens

Step 10

Apply a Stroke with a Width Profile 1 to both lines (Window > Stroke).

see above

Step 11

Object > Expand Appearance of both lines.

see above

Step 12

Go to Object > Blend > Blend Options and apply Specified Steps; 2. Then go to Object > Blend > Make with both lines selected.

see above

Step 13

Repeat Step 11.

expand appearance

Step 14

Right-click on the shape and select Transform > Reflect.

Select Horizontal Axis and Copy.

see above

Step 15

Arrange both shapes together, and then select them and make a compound path with Object > Compound Path > Make.

see above

Step 16

Apply a gold Linear Gradient to the resulting shape.

linear gradient from 765A3C to E5B947

Step 17

Apply a 30% Opacity and Screen transparency to the shape.

see above

Step 18

Arrange our finished shapes onto each other.

put the lines onto the petal

Step 19

Create four more copies of the finished petal and apply a different Effect > Warp to each one of them. Expand Appearance after each Warp.

1 Squeeze -9 Bend 20 Vertical 2 Twist -21 Bend 13 Horizontal 31 Vertical 3 Wave -47 Bend 24 Horizontal -18 Vertical 4 Inflate 35 Bend 26 Horizontal -16 Vertical

Step 20

Create a flower out of the finished petals.

a 6 petal flower using the fifth petal twice

2. How to Finish the Flower

Step 1

Create an ellipse and fill it with a brown Radial Gradient.

512E05 to E6BE79 to white

Step 2

Set the Transparency to Multiply and Opacity to 80%.

see above

Step 3

Place the shadow in the middle of the flower.

see above

Step 4

Create a yellow rectangle.

yellow rectangle the right side is shorter

Step 5

Bend the shape and add mesh nodes with the Mesh Tool (U).

bend the shape the right

Step 6

Follow these four steps to color and modify the shape.

color it with alternating colors and bend the edges to make it look rugged

Step 7

Create another orange rectangle.

orange rectangle

Step 8

Modify this rectangle, following the instructions below.

darker in the middle and make the edges rugged

Step 9

Create an ellipse with a Radial Gradient.

291502 to D69948 to white

Step 10

Apply the Multiply transparency mode to it.

see above

Step 11

Arrange all of the shapes from this part of the tutorial together.

put the shadow on top of the big shape under the small shape

Step 12

You can add some pollen seeds to the flower. To find out how to create them, head over to the second section of another flower tutorial of mine.

see tutorial

Step 13

Finally, assemble your flower!

put the shape into the middle

3. How to Create the Stalk and Leaves

Step 1

Create a narrow green rectangle and color it with Mesh.

color the stalk so it looks realistic

Step 2

Apply Effect > Warp > Flag with -33% Bend and -15% Horizontal Distortion to the shape. Expand Appearance.

see above

Step 3

Color the Mesh further.

color the left side of the stalk a lighter green

Step 4

Create a green rectangle, and then color and modify it with the help of the Mesh Tool (U).

color the rectangle and bend it to look like a leaf

Step 5

Select the leaf and edit its color by going to Edit > Edit Colors > Adjust Colors. Input the following settings:

  • Red: 4%
  • Green: 6%
  • Blue: -3%
see above

Step 6

Similarly color and modify another rectangle.

brown on the left side lighter on the right side rugged edges on the right

Step 7

Set the Transparency of the four rightmost nodes to 70%.

see above

Step 8

Take the leaf we made in Step 5, create a copy of it, and flatten it a bit.

see above

Step 9

Warp the flattened leaf with Arch and the following settings:

  • Bend: 12%
  • Vertical Distortion: -21%

Expand Appearance.

see above

Step 10

Arrange the finished leaves together.

arrange three leaves into a bunch

Step 11

Put the shape from Step 7 over the top of them.

see above

Step 12

Attach the flower to the stalk. You can create a few different variants by rotating it.

different rotations

Step 13

Arrange these flowers into a bouquet, similar to my example below.

seven flowers in a bouquet

Step 14

Add the created leaves to your bouquet.

bouquet with leaves

You’re done with the flowers! Let’s move on to creating the flowerpot.

4. How to Create the Flowerpot

Step 1

Let’s begin by creating the rim of the pot. Create half of the shape, as indicated in the picture, and then flip it with Reflect and copy it, to create a symmetrical rim shape.

half a rim - full rim

Step 2

Color the rim with the colors indicated in the screenshot below.

darker on the right and on the edges

Step 3

Create a narrow, dark orange ellipse.

dark orange circle

Step 4

Add it under the rim we made in the previous step. Send it back by pressing Shift-Control-[ on your keyboard.

see above

Step 5

Now, move on to creating the rest of the pot.

Draw an orange rectangle.

wide on the top and narrower on the bottom

Step 6

Bend the shape a little downwards, so it resembles the flowerpot more.

see above

Step 7

Finish coloring the flowerpot with this set of instructions.

darker on the right side

Step 8

Finally, let’s create the soil for the flowers. With the Pen Tool (P), draw a shape similar to mine below, and then fill it in with a brown color.

draw a shape that looks like soil

Step 9

Add the soil into the flowerpot. You can send it forward and back by right-clicking and selecting Arrange.

put soil into the pot

Step 10

Create two narrow ellipses, the smaller one filled with a dark orange color and the bigger with any color—it doesn’t matter. Then arrange both ellipses onto each other as indicated in the picture.

see above the smaller one is one the bottom

Step 11

Set the Opacity of the bigger ellipse to 0%.

see above

Step 12

Go to Object > Blend > Blend Options and apply Specified Steps; 30. Then do Object > Blend > Make with both ellipses selected.

see above

Step 13

Set the Transparency Mode to Multiply and the Opacity to 70%.

see above

Step 14

Create two more ellipses, fill the smaller one with a dark brown color, and put it on top of the bigger one.

the smaller ellipse on the left

Step 15

Repeat Step 12.

see above

Step 16

Set the Transparency Mode to Multiply.

see above

Step 17

Put the first ellipse on top of the soil and the second one under the pot as a shadow.

see above

Step 18

Create two final shapes, the smaller one filled with dark green, and the bigger one white.

the small shape on the bottom of the big one

Step 19

Repeat Step 12 once more.

see above

Step 20

Set the Transparency Mode to Multiply and the Opacity to 70%.

see above

Step 21

Put the bouquet into the pot we made and set the green shadow over top of the lowest part of the stalks and leaves.

see above

Awesome Work, You’re Now Done!

What now? You can try any of my other tutorials from my profile, or check out my portfolio on GraphicRiver, as well as the original image we recreated in this tutorial.

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and will be extremely happy to see any results in the comments below!

Spring and Summer Colorful Flowers
Spring and Summer Colorful Flowers in Vases