Leafscape

Leafscape was drawn directly from a dried sunflower leaf using pen and ink/gouache and w/c.

For me, as with a book, one reads the introduction and gradually finds oneself going into a journey of the unknown. Within a leaf there is a hidden world with avenues one can explore as the leaf twists and turns within itself. I felt myself walking across one field after another separated by hedges onto an unpredictable escarpment that falls into an abyss. As a different viewer you may say something completely different as you enter this world. This is why I gave a very general title – Leafscape.

For those interested in my technique, I used a 0.25 Rotring pen with ink washes on Fabriano hot pressed watercolour paper. I put a faint wash of burnt sienna on places to give a sense of warmth and 3 dimensionality, plus a limited use of white gouache to enhance and strengthen areas as contrast is essential in any composition.