Stamping with leaves

 ​Leaves are used like stamps in this activity.  You can also make your own stamp using a gum eraser.  The pieces in this post were created by painting leaves with ink and pressing them onto the paper.  After the prints dried, I carefully painted with just water around a part of  leaf.  While the paper was still wet, I added color and let it move and flow on the paper. 

I repeated this process until the background was filled in with color.  Because the leaves were left dry, the color did not blend into the leaf.  The border around each leaf is as distinct.  

More about the wet-on-wet-technique here.  

Adding words and poems to leaf stamps on colored backgrounds is a nice touch for more introspection.

Materials

• Strathmore 300 series watercolor paper
• India ink or black watercolor ink
• watercolor brushes
• permanent marker for writing
• Prang watercolor set (not the washable version - this washes just fine) or higher grade paints
• leaves