Cosmos and Crape Myrtle

Cosmos and Crape Myrtle
Flower pounding, pen & ink on cotton, 8.5x9.5

Experimenting again, this time I am trying additional flowers.  You can’t tell what color will come out of them by looking at them.  For example, all of the antique brown shading  in clusters is from a pink crape myrtle!  The pink cosmos was very light, but the dark violet ones were true to color.  The greens kept their color, and did the pink vinca, and the purple morning glories had the strongest pigment of all!  The yellow centers of the cosmos also pounded out as brown.  It makes me wonder what will happen when I try sunflowers....will they be brown instead of yellow?  I really love the vintage appeal of these blooms pounded on cotton!  And, isn’t it cool to use the flower pigment as my ink? This is number 14 in September’s 30 day challenge and this painting makes 987 for me in 987 days :)

Crape Myrtle Sprig

Crape Myrtle Sprig
Flower pounding, pen & ink on cotton fabric, 8x9.5

Today, I am experimenting with flower pounding!  I have wanted to give this a try for years.  The first step is to pick some flowers and lay them on a natural fiber surface, cotton in my case.  Then, after covering the flowers with wax paper, I pounded them on a wood surface with an actual hammer!  I brought a large rubber mallet to use, but it did not force the stain out of the petals like a real hammer did.  Next step - allow fabric to dry.  I left half the crushed flower pieces on until dry, and then scraped them off with a plastic putty knife and stiff, short brush.  Next - and most daunting, was to define all petals, leaves and stems with an india ink pen.  I chose sepia color, to add to the vintage feel of this project.  Once this was done, I went into those lightly stained areas with just a bit of color, using my Tombow brush pens in matching colors, on their sides. This was SO much fun - I now want to run out and pound every flower in the yard!  This is painting number 13 in the 30 Day Painting Challenge, and 986 in 986 days for me :)