Step 1:
After coating both sides of the Eucalyptus leaves with a thin layer of clear sealer, the silhouettes are painted on.
Step 2:
The embellished leaves are photographed and a series of filters applied, layer upon layer. I made dozens of digital proofs before arriving at the following images. The next step will be to proof them with master printer Luke Ingram at Arten.
The leaf in the image below was especially pleasing to work with. Thanks to some inspired chomping from my collaborator, a Eucalyptus tip bug, I was able to follow the contour of the altered leaf to create the shape and angle of my subject's head.
The leaf used in the following work is Thumbelina-sized, so I'm pleasantly surprised at how well it has adapted to a relatively extreme upscale (more about this in my next post). The completed archival pigment prints will be roughly A3 in size, possibly a little larger.
