.collect.

In the Wednesday half of my pattern design class, we're drawing our patterns and painting them with gouache. I love how the hand-drawn process alters the patterns, so that none of them can repeat as "perfectly" as they do/would on the computer.

I collected these leaves with the intent to use them to create textured grounds. I didn't end up trying the fern, I felt that the leaves were too close together. But, the tomato leaf worked so well. When I painted the leaf with just water and and pressed it onto the already painted ground, not only did it imprint its shape, but it also left its own green color on the paper.

Using natural materials this way is really fun to do, as each leaf behaved differently. I need to collect some more tomato leaves before they all get ucky with the cold.

When I have the chance, I'll scan in the sample I made with these, some parts of it look like they have potential... I would like to maybe even create a pattern simply using these techniques, rather than delegating them to the ground, destined to be covered by more flat paint.