Macro Leaf Project

This assignment was to cut out a leaf that you found outside into the shape of a rectangle. Then tape it down to paper so it doesn't curl up and you have to re-create the leaf onto a larger piece of paper. The subject of my creation is a dark brown, yellow, orange leaf. My work was made by first drawing the outline of the leaf with pencil. Then I mixed the colors I wanted to use and began to make an ombre with yellow at the top and orange at the bottom. I then let it dry and later I added a layer of brown over the ombre to make it match the leaf's colors. I then went in and added the brown detail to the vines and the brown/black and blue/black mixed specs all over the leaf. The material I used for this was watercolor paint.

I chose to create this specific artwork because I really liked the arrangement of the colors on this leaf and I like the variety of value. It’s arranged by the vines in the middle and growing off onto the side of the paper. How my project evolved was by at first I did one layer of colors and eventually I kept building up the yellows, browns, and oranges until I got the color that I desired. I revised my artwork by going back and touching up the brown colored vines in my leaf and added more brownish black specs.

The meaning behind my artwork is a simple leaf that was found outside in the wild. How my artwork relates to my life is there are leaves around me everyday and I decided to re-create this dainty little leaf. What I'm most proud of in my artwork is how I built up the colors because I love the range of value that I created. I struggled with being patient while each layer dried. But I overcome these struggles by occupying myself in the meantime. Also, the boarder was a mess so I had to clean and create a whole new boarder using white paint. My artwork could be stronger if I took more time on each layer of paint and using a smaller brush to add littler details. But overall, I really love how my artwork came out. Here is a bigger looking version of my artwork so you can see all of the details.