complete image flips

I had done quite a few little experiments and made a few repeats by now but I wasn't convinced any of them were the one so I thought I need to take a completely new approach to my textile print design.So I decided to take another look at the photographs I took of the Bird of Paradise... Whilst flicking through the photos it struck me that some of the close ups were really quite beautiful just as they were so I thought I could utilise the quality of the photographs and create some design repeats using the entire images... 

I took this photo

Flipped it

 and again

created a stripe repeat flipped on the axis

 and put it into repeat.
This is my first attempt at turning it into a repeat and if you look closely there is a fairly obvious track line so I tried again

and succeeded!

This is my favourite print/experiment so far. Despite being a fairly simple repeat I love the shapes and spaces created by the beautiful silhouettes of the Bird of Paradise. I think once developed a bit further these shapes are striking enough to create a really interesting print design. The design when repeated becomes eye catching and almost hypnotising, drawing the viewer in. 

I also like the fact that despite the abstract nature of the design (it is not obviously a Bird of Paradise flower) the colours have remained true to the original flower and I do not feel that they need altering at all.  

Because my fist outcome using this technique on a closeup photograph of the fresh orange/purple of the Bird of Paradise was so successful I thought it could be interesting to try it out with one of the older more wilted flowers...

I used exactly the same techniques and this is what it created! 

I think this print i really interesting too. The same techniques have created a completely different outcome this. I like that it is less busy but still has quite intricate detailing with the leaves, although I think the large plain areas of grey detract from the overall print.