Garden

You will be creating one flower, then copying that flower, just changing the colors, in one folder. Then you'll be adding dirt, grass and the sun in another folder. Your layers should end up looking like this...


Flower

Draw a Star

First make your canvas size 600 x 400. 

Add a new layer folder, and rename them to "flowers" and "grass & sky". Then lock the bottom layer folder, so they look like this...

Working in the "flower" layer folder, use the following techniques to create a flower...

Select the Polygon tool. Choose any fill color for now. In the Properties bar, change the settings as follows:

  1. First set the type to "Star"
  2. Set the number of sides to 12
  3. Uncheck the box for "Automatic", then use the slider to change the angle amount to around 50 or 60. 

Click and drag out a star.

Curve the Points

Curve the outside points by clicking and dragging the Pen tool on the outside points...

Continue with the other points until all of them are done like this...

Flower Shades

Fill your shape with a dark color that you like, and make sure there is no Stroke at this point.

Copy and paste your shape - CTRL+C, then CTRL+V (It pastes the copy in the same position - only see it in Layers that you now have 2).

Click on the Scale tool. Hold the ALT key and drag it in a bit from one of the corners. 

Go to the Properties for this shape, and click on the color square for the Fill.

Choose a lighter shade (drag up the slider a bit). 

And you have something like this...

Repeat Steps 2-4, to get 2 more copies, making each a lighter shade of the same color, using the Color Wheel slider.

  1. So CTRL+CCTRL+V to get the copy
  2. Scale it down a bit while holding ALT,
  3. then changing the color.

Group Layers

When you've got your flower, select all your layers...

...and group them (CTRL+G).

Stem & Leaves

Select your flower and Scale it down so you have room to draw the Stem.

Draw out a Rectangle for the stem to start. Fill it with a green color.

Then ungroup it (MODIFY>Ungroup or CTRL+SHIFT+G). Your Layers panel should look like this.

Add some curve/bend to all the points with the Pen tool by clicking and dragging on the points. Then adjust the handles with the Subselect tool (white arrow); you can hold ALT while doing so to change the direction. Make the stem skinnier in the middle.

Start drawing a leaf by drawing a triangle (use the Polygon tool, set to 3 sides, or just click it out with the Pen tool). Then adjust the points, adding curve with Pen tool to 2 of the points, and adjusting them with the Subselect tool). Then do the same to get another leaf.

Select the stem and leaves layers.

Then group them using CTRL+G.

Rename the layers "flower" and "leaves and stem". Also move the flower layer above the stem and leaves layer.

More Flowers

Select the flower and stem layers. Scale them so they're not too big (should be able to get at least 4 of them altogether).

Copy (CTRL+C) and paste the flower & stem (CTRL+V), move it over with the black arrow tool. Then paste again and move over; do one more time so you have 4 flowers. They should be slightly overlapping. 

Just select the flower layers with the Select tool (black arrow), and one at a time, change color. Open the Hue & Saturation filter (under Effects>Adjust Color) ...

..and check the box for Colorize. Then drag over the Hue to choose a different color.

Each flower should be a different color.

Grass & Sky

First, make sure to lock the "flowers" layer folder and unlock the "grass & sky" folder.

Draw the outline of the dirt with the Pen tool (click and drag out curves/points), does not have to be precise, just click and drag so it's curvy and make sure you go outside the canvas so we don't see the outside edges.

Fill it with a dirt color.

Draw another outline starting outside and above the dirt.

Change the shade of the top dirt layer using the Color Wheel.

Add a patch of green/grass using the Pen tool (just like dirt but comes out above the dirt and is green).

For the sky, just set the canvas color to a blue.

Add sunbeams using the Pen tool, just clicking (not clicking & dragging - want straight lines). Start by clicking somewhere outside the top corner, off the canvas, then click the first top edge of a ray, go down a bit, then back out/off the canvas, etc. 

And you're done

Your layers and folders should look like this...