Tangling Radiant Sooflowers

Last Thursday, among the tiles that I posted was my recent exploration with Livia Chau's    Sooflowers.

By adding rays from the center of each flower and leaving white space between neighboring ones, the effect became quite interesting.  

It's great fun, because the white spaces are as much an element of the overall tangle as the pattern itself.  Here are my photographs and a few notes of how the tile progressed in case you might also like to try it.

I began with one flower.  After some experimenting, I found that drawing a total of eight rays first made the subsequent lines easier to angle.  

Those rays are drawn as an X and then as a +.    

From there it is much easier to draw the lines as though they were bursting from under the flower and reaching outward.   The length of the lines is very random.  More interest is added if they are not all the same length.

Once one flower was completed, I drew the center of another, repeated the X and + and filled in the remaining rays leaving space between neighboring rays.

Then, I added more until I was satisfied with the overall look.

Next, I stippled the larger white spaces.  

For a final touch, I shaded around each Sooflower and stippled area.

Do give it a try.  It is a bit easier than it looks and it is very relaxing to draw.

Enjoy!