Macro Leaf

The objective of this project was to create a macro view of a leaf chosen by me, which is just a zoomed-in recreation of the leaf. We were able to focus on any part of the leaf to get the most interesting composition for our piece. There was a lot of variation in what the leaf could look like and a lot of opportunity because there are obviously many different types of leaves in the world, and being autumn, the possibilities were endless. My leaf is a recreation of a very small green leaf I found growing out of the ground which had many, many little holes due to the bugs eating them. I thought the holes really made the leaf more interesting and made it stand out more than a regular green leaf one might find on a maple or a leaf that had just started to turn yellow.

To create my piece I used water color paints and also acrylic paints. First I chose the area of the leaf that I liked the most, which happened to be in the center because of the interesting angles of veins and the large amounts of holes in the leaf. Then I sketched out the basic layout and design of the leaf and then proceeded to use green and brown water color paint to create the background of the leaf. I made the brown more towards the bottom of the leaf and made the darker colors start at the stem and then go out into lighter green to make the leaf look more realistic. Then I filled in the stem with brown paint that matched the brown used for the leaf. After that I painted over the water color paint with white acrylic to make the holes of the leaf.

I really liked the leaf that I used for this project because I feel like it was very different from what a lot of other people were doing. I had picked out a couple of red, orange, and yellow leave because I really liked the colors, but then I saw the Holy Leaves! I thought that they were very cute and would make an interesting composition. Part of me would've liked to use some nicer colors, or more fall-like colors because those would have been fun to incorporate, work, and experience with. However, I really like the colors and gradient that I got from combining and spreading the green and the brown paint. Also, if I had had more time or completed the project faster, I wanted to create a second piece where I leave the background (where the green and brown are now) and essentially do the same leaf, but switch the colors. The background would be the white and the holes would be filled in with the brown and the green paint. I think that those pieces would look very interesting next to each other.