Altered Silver

After the leaves had been sealed on both sides (as previously described) and were thoroughly dry, I could start working on how to restore the natural color they had when I initially gathered them off the ground. I tried several different ideas, but let's cut to the chase here and go directly to what worked best: chalk. I use Carb-Othello, but any good brand of artist's chalk should work as well. (Not sidewalk or blackboard chalks.)

The technique is happily quite simple.

Using appropriate colors, gently apply the chalk to the top of the leaf. "Gently" is the keyword here; after falling and drying, leaves are similar to old, fragile paper which will easily chip, tear or break, so use very little pressure. I found the weight of the chalk stick itself was usually sufficient. Stroke in a direction away from the stem. Change colors as needed for the main colors desired. (No need to try to accentuate every subtle change of hue. Those variances will still be apparent later.)

Wet a good bristle brush, then blot the brush so that nearly all the water is removed. The brush should be only damp enough to affect the chalk. Stroke in a direction away from the stem, and the applied chalk will spread and blend.
(Ignore the watercolor crayon shown in the photo. Chalk=good; watercolor=bad.)

Then I let the leaves dry completely, which took about 4-6 hours. After a bit of testing, I decided to give them a second application of the chalk & water. For the second time around, I used the same colors of chalk, but only needed to apply it to select areas so that round went faster.


Results were well worth the efforts for both the yellow and red groups!

When the color-enhanced leaves had dried over 24 hours, I again put them into my book-stack press and allowed them to remain there undisturbed for over a week. This was to extract any lingering moisture and improve their flatness. Now they can be stored in whatever manner is convenient, and they're ready to be used in altered book or collage projects whenever needed.




Technorati Tags: altered books, collage, mixed media, paper arts, leaves