Botanical Backpiece

A full backpiece built around native wildflowers. The client wanted something botanical but not decorative. Real plants, real structure. We pulled reference from field guides and herbarium specimens and worked out a composition that fills the back from shoulders to lower spine.

The arrangement follows the body's center line but breaks symmetry intentionally. Stems cross the spine. Flower heads sit at different heights on each side. The composition reads as natural growth, not a mirrored pattern.

Six sessions over five months. The first two sessions were linework only. Fine lines for stems and veins, heavier lines for outer petals and leaf edges. Sessions three through six built up shading and tone, working section by section from the top down.

The back is the largest flat canvas on the body, but it still moves. The design accounts for how the skin shifts when the arms reach forward or the torso bends. Nothing distorts at rest or in motion.