Retro Flower created using Photoshop
Final image :
STEP 1 : Open a new document of width = 500 px and height = 500 px in Photoshop and Illustrator and continue with the following. Create a new layer by selecting the 'New layer' icon in layers box. Name this layers as = Blue. Use the Rectangular Marquee tool and draw a rectangular selection with the width same as that of the document. The height of the rectangle is very thin. Set the foreground color in the color swatch under Tools window as # 339999 ( Light Blue color ) and the background color as = # 173aad ( Dark Blue color shade ).Now, while the rectangle is selected, use the shortcut ALT + Backspace to fill the rectangle selection with foreground color light blue. Keeping the selection as it is, use the Down arrow key in the keyboard and move the selection downwards. Keep pressing the arrow key till the selection is placed exactly below the light blue color filled area. Now use CTRL + Backspace as the shortcut to fill the selection with the background color which is set as dark blue color. Both the colored rectangles are placed one below the other in the same layer.
STEP 2 : Select the layer - Blue, and make a duplicate copy of the layer using the shortcut, CTRL + J. Name the duplicate layer as - Green. Select the 'Green' layer and go to IMAGE menu > ADJUSTMENTS > HUE / SATURATION. Set the Hue amount to = - (minus)115. The light and the dark shade of blue colors change to brown and green colors. Position this double toned rectangle belonging to the layer green, below the blue colored rectangle. Select the Blue layer and the Green layer ( CTRL + select layers to select multiple layers at a time ) and right click and select the option called = Merge Layers. Both the layers are merged to a single layer. Name this merged layer as = Rectangle 1. Hence this rectangle one layer consists of a rectangle shape made of four colors namely > light blue, dark blue, brown and green.
STEP 3 : Select the Rectangle 1 layer, and make a duplicate copy of the layer using CTRL + J. Name the duplicate layer as = Rectangle 2. Select the rectangle 2 layer and go to IMAGE menu > ADJUSTMENTS > HUE / SATURATION. Set the Hue amount to = - (minus)50. The colors change into near shades of green, blue, pink and yellow. Create a duplicate copy of the rectangle 2 layer using CTRL + J for which the hue was adjusted and name the layer as Rectangle 3. Hence there are three rectangle layers namely Rectangle 1, Rectangle 2, and Rectangle 3. The rectangle 1 layer belongs to blue and green shade and rectangle 2 and 3 are the same with green ad pink shade. Position Rectangle 1 layer perfectly at the center. Place the rectangle 2 and 3 layers, one at the extreme top and the other at the bottom.
STEP 4 : Once the three rectangle shapes are positioned, in the middle you will notice two empty areas without any fill color. For this you can create a rectangle selection using the same rectangle marquee tool and fill it with color OR draw a rectangle shape of the required size to fit into the area OR by simply creating a new layer above the default background layer that is white in color and is locked. Follow either of these three methods and set the foreground color in the color swatch as = # e5e217 ( Yellow shade ). Name this layer as = Yellow. Select the yellow layer and go to go to FILTER menu > FILTER GALLERY > TEXTURE > CRAQUELURE and set the crack spacing to = 45, crack depth to = 5, and the crack brightness to 9. If you have used the rectangle shapes or selection method, you have to add filter for both of them individually. If simply a new layer is created and the whole layer is filled with filter, there is no necessity to repeat the process.
STEP 5 : Now that the background is complete, we can apply border. We are not going to add any special style to the border. We are simply going to fill the border with color and change the blend style to get the required result. For applying border to the Background, use rectangular marquee tool and make a rectangular selection of the size of the image. Do not start with the corner point but, start drawing the rectangle, by leaving some margin and clicking inside the image. Image has been included below to guide you with the procedure. Next use SELECT menu > REVERSE option and you will see an area is selected. This area is the distance between the rectangle drawn and the actual document border. When the Marquee tool is selected, related sub options appear at the top. Keeping the selection as it is, use the ' Add to Selection ' icon and draw a square ( press SHIFT key while dragging the mouse to draw a perfect circle ) at the top left corner. Draw a circle again at the bottom right corner. You will notice that the extra square shape is also added to the rectangular selection. 
STEP 6 : Now that the selection is made, create a new layer ( you can also use Layer menu > New > Layer option ) and name it = Border. Set the foreground color in color swatch under Tools section as = # 1ed810 ( Light Green color ). Use ALT + Backspce as the shortcut to fill the selection with green color in the layer called > Border. The fill option is also available at Edit menu > Fill. The Blend mode for this Border layer is = LINEAR BURN. This is the most important adjustment to get the result with change in color. If you refer to the image included, the third image shows the rectangle and the circle shape with fill color. This is only for demonstration purpose of how to draw the circle to add to selection. They are NOT filled selection in the third section of image.
STEP 7 : We have the background and the border, so we shall continue with creating a flower. For creating a flower, let us make use of Illustrator. In Illustrator, use the Pen Tool, click on the area and then click near that anchor point and drag the mouse to get a curve. The shape of the curve depends on the movement of the mouse. The third click is near the first point and finally click over the first point which started the shape to get a closed petal shape. Set the fill color of this petal to # ff0000 ( Red shade ) and the stroke color is Black with stroke thickness set to 5 px.
STEP 8 : Make SEVEN more copies of the petal by ALT+ click the shape and drag to make a duplicate or copy and paste the shape. Select each shape using the Selection tool and rotate them using Free Transform Tool. You can use the Object menu > Transform > Reflect option to flip the shapes or the rotate option to specifically give a rotation angle to maintain uniformity in forming a flower shape out of the rotation. You will have a total of eight petals. Select all the eight petals by selecting an empty are and dragging over the shapes to cover all the shape to include them under selection ( or use press SHIFT key and select petals to select multiple petals at a time) and go to Object menu > Group to group them as one entity. Select the group of 8 petals and copy them using CTRL + C and paste them using the option Edit menu > Paste in Front (that is CTRL + F).
STEP 9 : The new set of petals are pasted in front ( over ) the original set of petals. The new set of petals are automatically selected, so now you can change the fill color to white. The stroke color of the petals positioned inside is = # 68d489 ( Light green shade ) and the stroke size is 5 px. Select all these newly pasted eight petals and go to EFFECT MENU > DISTORT AND TRANSFORM > TWIST and set the Twist angle to = 65 degree. If you select individual petals and then apply twist, it would not be pleasant to look at as each petal would be rotated in different positions. For the middle part, use the simple ellipse shape tool and draw a circle by holding on to the SHIFT key. Use the Crystal Tool available with Warp and related tools in Tools window, and press in the middle. The longer you click, the more are the number of sharp edges for the circle. The fill color for the circle is same # ff0000 ( Red shade ) set for the outer petals. There is no stroke color for the circle.
STEP 10 : Select the entire flower image including the outer petals and inner petals and the circle shape and drag them into the Photoshop document. This flower is pasted as a smart object as a single entity that can be edited by clicking twice the smart object icon in the layers window. The editing is done in Illustrator, and the changes made when saved is also affected here in Photoshop. Set the Blend mode of the flower layer to = LIGHTEN. Position the flower in the center of the document. Check that the layers are arranged in the following order.
Like it on Facebook, Tweet it or share this article on other bookmarking websites.