Materials and tools: leaves, pigments (egg painting, watercolor painting or acrylic pigment), paper or cloth (cardboard or watercolor paper), rolling pin (optional), brush (used when mixing pigments).

step

Choose the right leaves. The surface is relatively flat, not too soft, and the back has obvious vein texture, so the leaves are most suitable for printing. You can choose fresh leaves, or press them with heavy objects for a day before using them, so that the surface of the leaves can be kept flat and easy to print.

2. Paint the surface of leaves with pigment. When printing leaves, sometimes the details of leaves cannot be clearly displayed on the printed paper, and the leaves are blurred after printing; Or there are many white blank spots on the printed paper, but if too much pigment is applied before printing, the paper will be dirty! How to prevent these problems?

The first is the choice of pigments. Leaf prints generally use acrylic pigments, gouache pigments and egg-colored paintings. They are all water-based pigments, but the printing effect is different. Gouache, watercolor and egg-colored paintings are very easy to use if printed on paper.

The color of propylene pigment is more durable after drying. Very suitable for printing on cloth, of course, printing on paper is also very easy to use. However, it is difficult to remove the dry acrylic pigment from the brush. So when you use it, you should act quickly and print it before the paint is dry. Or spray water on the brush with a spray bottle to prevent the brush from drying too fast.

The second is to wet the paper before printing. Especially thick paper, such as cardboard or watercolor paper. Wet the paper with a fog bottle first, or smear the paper surface with a brush dipped in water.

The third is to draw leaves. Coat the leaves with a thin layer of pigment. Or paint the back of the leaves. Veins on the back of leaves are generally obvious, but when the back is painted, it is thicker, and the consistency is like tomato sauce or thicker. Usually, do not dilute the pigment with water. If the pigment is too thin or too much, it is easy to stain the paper. A leaf can be painted with only one color or with multiple colors at the same time. 3. printing. When the paper feels wet, but there is no water on the surface, you can start printing. Pick up the leaf, carefully put the painting side down on the paper, and put a piece of paper or paper towel on the leaf. Then press hard with the palm of your hand, or roll with a rolling pin, with a little force when rolling, so that the leaves can be printed on paper or cloth. Using a rolling pin will have a better effect than pressing it with the palm of your hand, and the printed leaf image will be clearer and more detailed.

Finally, carefully pick up the leaves from the paper or cloth, and the leaves are printed.