Posts Tagged: ageing test

Natural Material Woes: Leaf Collage Experiments

I wrote previously about an experiment I did using leaves to make a collage. If you missed it, you can find the post here.

A year later, I know you’re all wondering, “How is the Red Panda leaf collage looking now?”

Red Panda leaf collage test piece after 1 year
Red Panda leaf collage after 1 year

Well, actually not too bad. Most of the piece still looks pretty much the same as it did when it was first made. The only noticeable change is that the color of the yellow leaves in the background has faded. While that’s not ideal from an aging/longevity standpoint, aesthetically I’m not exactly crushed. I didn’t really like the super bright yellow color it had originally, so this more muted yellow is a bit nicer to look at.

I suspect it’s at least partially due to the yellow leaves being a bit ‘fresher’ than the brown ones, so the color wasn’t as stable. This, of course, begs the question: How will red, orange, or green leaves hold up over time?

This is definitely something that needs looking into! So, I created another experimental test piece, using red and green leaves, to see how those colors will age.

Red Galapagos Crab collage leaf test piece
Red Crab leaf collage test piece

Here we have a red crab from the Galapagos islands. I thought he was pretty cool-looking and he had the right colors, so he was my test victim. I suspect I should have used a subject that had larger areas of red, like a cardinal, but oh, well!  I’ll keep you posted on how this one ages as well.

If you’re curious about the materials I used (other than leaves!), here’s a list:

*Canvas Board

*Golden Acrylic Soft Gel Medium

*Winsor & Newton Galeria Acrylic Satin Varnish

I’m thinking of trying out flowers as a medium for collage as well. What do you think?

Want to stay up to date and see more of what I’m working on? Sign up for my mailing list here and get a FREE digital download of an exclusive tiger linocut print. (I promise not to be spammy with my emails—I hate that too!)

* Please note that this post contains affiliate links and any sales made through such links will reward me a small commission – at no extra cost for you.