Today I walked from the car park to work and saw some beautiful sycamore leaves on the ground in a red colour.
Would this method work for them or have they turned too far into autumn?
What did you hammer them with?
How long did it take to get the pattern?
I loved the colours of the leaves and thought it would be nice to try but my plant anatomy(?) isn’t great
Would all the chlorophyll have gone? isn’t that just what makes them the greeny colours? And would the red, autumnal colours work in the same way but maybe not be chlorophyll.
Sorry, a lot of questions, but I really didn’t know what to search!!!
I hanmered the leaves with a regular hammer to break the cell walls. This helps release the color. Maybe 5-10 minutes per leaf? I hammered every inch of the leaf until I clearly saw the leaf pattern on the underside of the fabric.
the fall color pigment is in a leaf all year long. It is just masked by chlorophyll until the chlorophyll containing structures die off in the fall.
You could probably hammer fall leaves as long as they aren’t too dry. I don’t know how much red/yellow/orange the leaf would release. I will tey when my leaves turn!
I think I will try this when I get back from my holiday, it will be prime autumnal colours then… And, on a completely different point, I will allow myself to go full autumn - food, clothes, boots, dark tights, winter duvet.
The project will be fitting!!
ETA: Thanks for the info, this sounds like an outdoor project. I live in a flat and my neighbours would probably kill me!
