Flower head printing
Using fresh flowers you can make some lovely textured prints and patterns.
What you will need:
Flowers
A palette or plate for the paints (we used lids and tins from our recycling bin)
Paints (gouache or acrylic work well, we used gouache paints)
Paper to print onto
What to do:
1. Go for a walk and choose a selection of flowers to print with. It helps if you leave some of the stem on to use as a handle. Look for flowers that you think will make interesting shapes, with a flat, open blossom where the petals are firmly attached - otherwise they will quickly drop off! Don’t pick wild flowers unless there is a big group of them – remember to leave some for the bees! The charity Plantlife have a good code of conduct to follow when picking wild flowers.
2. Spread out some paint on to your palette or whatever you’re using. The paint needs to be quite thick so squeeze it from your tubes and don’t water it down.
3. Holding the flower carefully by the stem, press it into the paint so that the petals are fairly well covered.
4. Press the paint-covered flower on to your sheet of plain paper, making sure that you press it evenly to spread the paint out. You might want to make a test print on some scrap paper first.
5. It helps to use a new flower for each different paint colour, so that the colours don’t get mixed up.
6. When you are finished, leave them on some newspaper to dry.
7. Try making patterns with different shaped flowers and leaves. You could try to print a picture, or just make repeating patterns. It doesn’t matter if the shape of the print doesn’t look much like a flower anymore! It’s also lovely to print your own wrapping paper or cards.
Please do share your prints using the hashtag #mudandbloom as we would love to see them!