Over the summer I tried to do some hammered leaf art. Since I had never done it before I was just grabbing random leaves and plants that I thought would look good if I beat them on some watercolour paper.
I thought a fern and some maple leaves would look really good but alas I has awful results. You can't really see where they were because there was not enough juice in them.
The leaf in the upper left looked really good. After reading my first intro to this art the author said that:
You're looking for things with bright colors that aren't too juicy or too dry. It'll take a little trial and error to find good plants, so grab a variety and play around.
Is that really the only advice when getting into this... trial and error? I understand crafting has a large part of just that but in this case is there more to go on for this when it comes to select leaves to hammer?
- If I find a good leaf can I assume that species of that size and age is a good choice going forward?
- Is there a way I can tell visually if a leaf is juicy or dry?
How can I effectively access a leaf/plant for use in my nature prints or hammered art?