Techniques on Tuesday with Jessica Sporn

Hi - Jessica Sporn here to show you a fun technique to do with leaves.  Here in the northeastern USA, they are falling from the trees and are everywhere.  When I walk my dog, I can't help but pick them up!

I have painted "portraits" of them:

But by far the most fun thing I've done recently is use them as stamps!  Here's how:

Collect some leaves (my rule is that they must have already fallen!) of different shapes and sizes.  Here are the ones I used, after they were already covered with paint:

Mix up some watercolors, or get out your favorite sprays.  You can either paint/spray directly onto your leaf, or paint/spray onto a craft mat or plastic plate and then dip your leaf into the paint.  Then press your leaf onto watercolor or other sturdy paper.

You can either leave the imprint exactly how it is:

 or use your brush with water to soften it and blur it a little, creating lovely transparency and texture:

You can also use paint/spray around the leaves, using them as masks:

Stay in the same color family to avoid making muddy colors as you overlap and re-activate your paint!  Here's an art journal page in the making using this technique:

On another page in my journal, I went to town stamping my leaves and overlapping the colors.  Before I knew it, I had almost filled up an entire page:

I thought - wouldn't this make beautiful hair!  So I stopped and added a face.

Hop over to my blog to see how I digitally put this lady on a background and added some text.

Hope you enjoyed this technique.  If you try it, please share your link in your comments below, or use the technique to link up for the next Show and Tell Saturday! 

Do you have a technique you'd like to share?  Please let me know by sending an email to jessicabethsporn (at) gmail (dot) com.

Warm regards, Jessica

Jessica Sporn is a mixed media artist and illustrator, known for her strong use of color, texture and heartfelt style. It's been said that her artwork always contains a sprinkle of my soul! She is a designer for Stencil Girl Products; her illustration work can be found on stationary, giftware, and Judaica products for Aviv Judaica. Some of her Judaica designs are sold at the Jewish Museum and Metropolitan Museum of Art. She is is represented for licensing by Creative Connection Inc, at http://cciart.com/, and is proud to be a co-moderator of Artists in Blogland!