Oak Leaf Monoprint

My love affair with trees goes back decades, and it re-surges every fall when leaves in Wisconsin explode into fall colors.  Easily identifiable maple leaves were an early love, because their showy fall colors stand out.  At some point I became interested in oak trees.  I realized I could recognize oak  leaves, but I couldn't easily draw them.  I realized why when I started collecting oak leaves to draw - there is no one typical oak leaf shape.

Image 1: Oak Leaf Monoprint by Jeanne Selep

What is the shape of an oak leaf?  Well, see above.  Oak leaves have 5 to 10 lobed sections with pointy or rounded tips.  While enjoying autumn I collected all sorts of oak leaves and dried them flat in books.  Eventually I amassed a collection of dried oak leaves, and for fun I used this collection to create the large monoprint* shown above, using the many shapes and sizes of oak leaves I had found.

Image 2: So many leaves to choose from!

The diversity of oak trees leaves here in my state boggles my mind.  If I drew all these oak leaf shapes people would think I took SO much artistic license, because some of these leaf shapes are so fantastic.  Look at the crazy oak leaf below, how pinched the cutouts between the lobes go.  It's like an animae or chibi version of an oak leaf.  God or Nature creates fantastic shapes, in millions!

Image 3: Oddest Oak Leaf Shape
If hand drawn, would you believe this shape?

Arranging the oak leaves for the monoprint took a long time because I wanted to show the diversity of shapes and some of the size variations, and I found it hard to create an arrangement that seemed balanced and made sense.

Image 4: Oak Leaf Layout Auditioning leaves

Eventually I settled on the arrangement I printed below.  I wanted my oak leaves to have bright fall colors, so I used the unlikely color of red ink for the print.  But in reality, oak trees fall colors typically are briefly yellow then brown, and frequently the (brown) leaves stay on well into winter. A sometimes rich brown, but nothing showy like the maple trees. 

Image 5: Oak Leaf Monoprint by Jeanne Selep

My monoprint is nowhere near perfect, but I achieved a print I like that reflects my interest and love of oak leaves, which I continue to gather and press.

Image 6: Oak Leaf print close-up Detail

I love how the monoprint reveals the texture and veining in the leaves that are hard to see in the actual leaf.

Image 7: Layout Comparison to Monoprint

(I could go on for paragraphs about finding different oak trees, collecting leaves, monoprints and printing, etc., but I will spare whatever readers are still here.  Below are some how-to notes only if you are interested...)

* Notes:
A monoprint is a form of printmaking where the image can only be made once.

My process is as follows:  I "auditioned" leaves in a layout before individually inking them using a roller brayer and oil based red ink.  The leaves are then laid onto a smooth plate, ink face up, and Arches paper is laid over the leaves.  The "sandwich" of the plate, inked leaves, paper is then run through a printing press with felt blankets that squish the paper into the inked leaves.  The paper is lifted off, any leaves sticking to the paper are removed and I have my monoprint!   The overall print dimensions are approximately 22 inches by 30 inches high (56cm by 76cm high).

Above is an image showing a layout concept vs. the actual print. Notice many of the leaves I ended up using are "mirror images". The large leaf in the middle is over 9 inches long, so now I look for smaller leaves when collecting leaves to dry.

"Every leaf speaks bliss to me
Fluttering from the autumn tree"

                                                -  Emily Bronte
_________________________________________________________________

"Autumn is a second spring
when every leaf is a flower" 

                                                -  Albert Camus

Image 8: Oak Leaf Monoprint by Jeanne Selep

(After starting this post, reflections in the photo made me need to re-photograph it.  And so to make it look better, because I never liked the soft white paper floating on white cardboard framing, I re-matted this print with red matt board - Blogging can improve your art! This image shows the original print on white, not as nice.  I re-purposed a resale shop picture frame, saving money and being green!)

 

 

Click on the images to see them enlarged.  Leave a comment if you have the time, they brighten my day!

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