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I saw this amazing piece of art and was curious as how I could make something similar using stuff I could find in nature like ferns, bark or large leafs?

https://naturalcuriosities.com/bird-of-paradise-ready-to-ship-16153.html

What would the process be? How would you stop the leaf from further decomposition? And is it just dipped in gold paint?

https://naturalcuriosities.com/bird-of-paradise-ready-to-ship-16153.html

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From the absence of visible leaf structure, I would guess that this is just artfully laid out gold colored tissue on canvas. There is an inherent pun in the work because that gold tissue is usually referred to as "gold leaf".

As for making similar work from actual plant life, you might it easier to build a one-sided, open silicone mold around a plant leaf, then cast them in a mixture of clear resin and gold-colored pigment.

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  • I can be swayed but are you 100% convinced this is not a real leaf that has been painted? Although the coincidence of the pun cannot be ignored. I can see what could be veins and it resembles actual Birds of Paradise leaves I see online. If it is fake I commend the artist as it is very good.
    – Matt
    Commented Oct 5, 2018 at 18:37
  • @Matt, All of the BoP and Banana leaf images I've seen, show a main vein down the middle with straight sub-veins radiating outward to the leaf edge. These sub-veins are represented in the golden artwork, but are significantly less pronounced than in the live leaf images. It is possible that some other species looks exactly like this artwork, in which case I'm wrong, and the artwork could be either a casting or a spray painted leaf. There is also a bubble along the lower right edge which seems like an implementation error rather than a biological feature. I still think its a beautiful fake.
    – Henry Taylor
    Commented Oct 5, 2018 at 19:28
  • I have 0 experience in this so I will default to you on this one
    – Matt
    Commented Oct 5, 2018 at 19:36

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