Acrylic Leaf Prints

Leaf imprints are lovely, so lovely.

 

My daughters and I collected leaves from the garden... japanese maple, yaupon holly, oleander, nandina, yarrow and bald cypress. We wanted to do something artistic with the leaves and the creative spark for our project came from Camp Creek Press, who shared the Watercolor Prints they had made with leaves.

We used a brayer to paint a leaf with Speedball heavy-bodied acrylic paint then pressed the leaf onto a small piece of watercolor paper with our fingers and pressed with the palm of the hand. <this is a messy project> My younger daughter developed the idea of painting a card then using a leaf as a mask and painting over it in a different color.

Here are some other things we tried...

• Paint a leaf with a brush, using several colors
• Put a painted leaf under a card and roll a dry brayer on the back of the card
• Place a painted leaf on a card, and roll over with a brayer in a different color
• Try more or less paint on the brayer
• Try multiple leaves on a card
• Paint backgrounds with a brayer with just a hint of paint; overlay a leaf print
• Do a leaf print on top of a background of a slightly different color
• Make a print on scrap cardstock
• Acrylic Leaf Backgrounds

We spent hours experimenting ~ can you imagine ~ for a 6 year old that's a long time to focus on an art project. If you like this project, here are more ideas for using a brayer!

Comments

[Karla]

My younger daughter developed the idea of painting a card then using a leaf as a mask and painting over it in a different color. . . . These are my favorite -- what a lovely, creative idea. Kudos to your daughter!