#614...tessa's leaf collage

My tiny client Tessa, who was born today, is coming home to a really cool art piece that I made for her nursery. Tessa's Mom Laura commissioned me to create a collage painting similar to this  Land of Nod piece, but on a larger scale. Here's how I made it.....

Using a few sheets from my canvas pad, I painted some solid and variegated colors using acrylic paints.

I used the back of my brush to scratch some patterns in a few of the colors.

Next, I cut out some cardboard patterns of the elliptical leaf shape, and figured out the appropriate size for my canvas.

I traced and cut the leaf shapes out of my dried painted canvas sheets.

I also cut some leaves out of patterned papers that I had on hand. Then I laid them out on the canvas and began gluing them down using Modge Podge.

Above you see the glue being painted on the back side of each leaf. Once all the leaves were glued down, I coated the entire canvas with about 7 thin coats of matte Modge Podge.