Thursday, September 30, 2010

Dia de la Abby #18 - Leaf Rubbing Skull

This was inspired by Fall and because I wanted to do a project that my daughter could do too.


I have done leaf rubbings as a kid. I think most people have. The technique it's self is simple. You put a leaf under the paper and used a crayon to rub over it. It's a great way to learn about textures in nature. How I did altered the technique was a bit harder. This is because I had to carefully line up the leaves where I wanted them to for a shape. In this case, a skull. Should you want to make your own, see the handy tutorial.

To me, this finished piece reminds me of some type of fairy tale woodland creature, like a wood nymph. It also reminds me that in death, we are returned to the earth. What always remains, is our skeleton. Fall is a time where the trees shed their leaves and though the trees are starting the process of hibernation, the leaves that are shed decompose back into soil. Come Spring, these decomposed leaves provide nutrition for new plants and the trees that are awakening again. It's a beautiful cycle of life that I enjoy observing through out the years.



Every week in the 4.0 year, I will be post my own Dia de la Abby posts as well as a tutorial with instructions on how I made my piece. Hopefully you feel inspired by my posts just as I was by Noah's Skull-A-Day 1.0 daily project. Need more of me than just a weekly dose, follow me on Twitter and/or Facebook.

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