Step-by-step tutorial
Step 1
Find some colorful leaves to create your masterpiece.
Step 2
Find a sturdy, solid surface, and place a sheet of watercolor paper down. (Tip: Make sure your surface isn't too soft or too rough or it will make the transfer harder.)
Place a leaf on the watercolor paper, and lay a paper towel sheet on top of the leaf. It's easiest to do one leaf at a time so they don't shift when hammering.Step 3
Take the hammer and carefully hammer the leaf through the paper towel.. You'll start to see the colors bleed through the paper towel. Gently lift up the paper towel to check that you have touched every portion of the leaf.
Repeat steps 2-3 to create more leaf imprints.Step 4
Carefully peel off the paper towel to reveal the colors! If any leaves stay stuck to the watercolor paper, let them dry before peeling them off.
Step 5
If you're interested in learning more about plants, you can look up what kinds of plants the leaves come from and write down the latin names!
Here are the leaves that we gathered:
Hedera helix (ivy)
Acer Palmatum (japanese maple)
Limonium caspium (purple flowers)
Pistacia chinensis (green multiple leaves)
Cinnamomum camphora (red leaf)
What leaves did you find?Final result!
To preserve your leaf imprints, spray the watercolor paper with a coating of UV protectant spray.