In Japanese culture, the crane symbolizes longevity and good fortune, while cherry blossoms represent the ephemeral nature of life.
I recently rediscovered some stylized cherry blossom (sakura) art that I had drawn a couple years ago. These flowers felt like a natural compliment to my previous paper crane (orizuru) drawing.
I revisited my original paper crane drawing by refining the scanned image and adding the cherry blossoms to a purple background.
The paper crane (orizuru) is a classic Japanese origami design. This illustration began as a February 2017 pen and ink drawing of my hand-folded paper crane. The drawing was scanned at 1200 dpi and digitally colored in Photoshop.