Painting Autumn Leaves

Painting

Sep 25

It’s no secret - I love to paint and I’m happy to paint on just about anything - including autumn leaves! I adore the multi-coloured beauty of the changing leaves in autumn so I always try to keep old phone books around so that it is easy for me to dry the leaves every autumn.

Yes! I use old phone books and a lot of weight to dry leaves. I do not use a floral press - although I am sure that it works well too.

Here’s what I do…

I pick the leaf off the tree instead of grabbing one on the ground. This seems to ensure that the leaf will last longer (without crackling and disintegrating). I then layer some leaves in a phone book and make sure to have an 1/8th of an inch or so of paper between one layer of leaves and the next layer. I’ll stack the phone book on the floor in a corner somewhere and I make sure that there are a number of heavy books (or whatever flat weighted objects you have handy) on top of that phone book, leaving them for a week or two to dry well. I then collect the leaves and place them into a flat plastic container for safekeeping. Now the leaves are ready to be used - whenever I am ready to create! All you have to do next is to carefully paint your design on them (you don’t want to press too hard) and then place your creative project in a frame or wherever you desire to place it for your autumn decorating.

I always try to pick a few more leaves than I think that I need so that I can save some for the following autumn - or for whenever I have the urge to paint on leaves. :)

The thing about leaves however, is that they are susceptible to breakage and disintegration since they are a fragile natural object. Some leaves appear to last longer than others, especially if you dry them really well. I’ve found more success when I manage to wait two weeks or so before using them. But if you wish your project to last indefinitely, you could trace a leaf out on a sturdy paper such as watercolour paper, mixed media paper or even yupo paper and paint on that instead.

Have you tried painting on leaves before? How did it go?