INFOGRAPHIC SERIES - Flowers of all Kinds

Time to create flowers. All kinds of flowers using basic shapes and the rotate tool. Cool tricks with the rotate tool are in this blog as well. Once you learn all these tips you can create any flower you can imagine. Let your imagination bloom!

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Create a circle. Fill and put on a heavy stroke. I used 20 px.

Use the Direct Selection Tool and click on the top point of the circle and move it straight up.

Select the Rotate Tool from the Tool Bar and OPTION + CLICK above the tip of the shape, off the object. 

CLICK sets the point of rotation (does not have to be ON the object) and OPTION opens up the Rotate Tool dialog box. ​

Choose how many petals you want by dividing 360° by the number of petals. Do this directly IN the angle field... THIS IS YOUR CALCULATOR!
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Then click COPY to get a duplicate shape rotated the amount you want. If you click OK, it will not copy it.

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Once you have the petal copied, then use COMMAND + D to continue to rotate/duplicate the shape around the rotation point.

Add a center circle with a color and stroke. 

To add detail to the petal, draw a line then add an end to the line via the Stroke Panel.

You can add ends to the stroke. In this case I added a circle and reduced the size of it to 30% of the original size so it fits. 

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This is the finished flower!

New one! Starts with a square. 

Use the Direct Selection Tool to select 3 of the 4 corners. Then pull the Corner Widgets into the center to the maximum amount. 

Select the Rotate Tool from the Tool Bar and OPTION + CLICK in the center of the shape. 

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In the Rotate Tool dialog box, put 45° in the angle field and click COPY.

Repeat the Rotate and Copy process with a -45°. I colored these with different colors to show the 3 shapes.

Select all 3 shapes and add a stroke to them.

Using the Pathfinder Panel, UNITE all the shapes together.

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Use the Direct Selection tool to select the 2 upper left and right tips and move them straight up to form the Tulip. DONE!

New one! Starts with a circle, hefty stroke.. 

OPTION + CLICK & DRAG the shape to overlap the shape 50% over the other shape. Select both shapes. 

Use the Pathfinder Intersect Mode to form a leaf.

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Select the Rotate Tool from the Tool Bar and OPTION + CLICK the bottom tip of the shape. 
​In the Rotate Tool dialog box, put 45° in the angle field and click COPY.

​Repeat the Rotate/ Copy with -45° in the angle field and click COPY to give you a 3 petal flower. 

Select the petals and open the Stroke Panel. You can set the Stroke to be centered on the shape, outside the shape or inside the shape. 

Here are the 3 different stroke alignments shown. 
Centered, Inside and Outside the shapes. DONE!

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New one! Starts with a rectangle. ​

Use the Direct Selection Tool to select the opposite corners, then pull the corner widgets into the center to the maximum point. 

Select the Rotate Tool from the Tool Bar and OPTION + CLICK inside bottom tip of the shape. 
​In the Rotate Tool dialog box, put 90° in the angle field and click COPY.

Once you have the petal copied, then use COMMAND + D to continue to rotate/duplicate the shape around the rotation point.
Copy the 4 petals, Paste them in Place, change the color, scale and rotate them to overlap the original petals. 

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Repeat the Copy/ Past in Place and scale and rotate yet again, fill with another color to add more depth and petals. Done!

New one! Starts with a rectangle. ​​

Use the Direct Selection Tool to select the bottom corners, then pull the corner widgets into the center to the maximum point. ​

Use the Direct Selection Tool to select the upper right corner, then pull the corner widget into the center to the maximum point. 

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Select the shape, RIGHT  CLICK on the shape and choose Transform>Reflect. Reflect Vertically and choose COPY.

Copy and Paste in Place the petals, then scale and send them to the back. 

Add a highlight noodle to the rose by using the Arc Tool and round the ends in the stroke panel by adding Rounded Caps... hot-dogging the ends. Done!

New one! Starts with a circle. ​

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Use the Direct Selection Tool and click on the top point of the circle and move it straight up.

Use the Direct Selection Tool and click on the bottom point of the circle and change the point to a corner point.

In the Control Bar, you can select a Point and change it from a corner to a smooth and smooth to a corner point, but only by using the Direct Selection Tool.

Pull the bottom point down further to give a sharper petal. 

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Select the Rotate Tool from the Tool Bar and OPTION + CLICK near the top center of the shape.
In the Rotate Tool dialog box, put 360/5 in the angle field and click COPY. 

Once you have the petal copied, then use COMMAND + D to continue to rotate/duplicate the shape around the rotation point.
Using the Pathfinder Unite Mode to merge the shapes together. 

Offset the Path by selecting the shape, the go undet the Object Menu> Path> Offset Path. Set the Offset to a negative number to make the shape inside (click the preview button to see what works best), then click OK.

Change the color in the offset shape and DONE!