Painting The Fig Leaf Castings

Getting the look that I thought I was after on the leaves was easier than I thought it would be.  I used acrylic paints,  a 2" brush, a small brush, and a small natural sponge.  First I thinned the paint with water so it was more like a stain. I painted everything light green with the 2" brush.  Then I stained the veins with a dark green (sap green) using a narrow brush and sponge-blotted the dark green over the rest of the leaf.  I decided I wanted to darken the edges to give it a richer look using burnt umber.  I brushed it on the edges then blended it using the sponge.  They need to dry then I will seal them.

Fig leaves stained/painted

I was surprised at how easy it was to move the color.  I was able to blot the leaves with my sponge to remove any extra paint.  I applied the thinned burnt umber with a small 1/2" brush and blotted it with my sponge to blend or fade it out so it looked more natural.  I will post pictures of the stages of painting with the next leaf painting.  I wasn't exactly sure of what would work and what wouldn't when I painted these leaves, so I didn't think about taking pictures.

Castings Of Fig Leaves For The Tabletop Fountain

I made three leaf castings of fig leaves today to be used on my tabletop fountain (only two are shown, the third is not ready to handle). They turned out nice.  I forgot to spray PAM on the first leaf I did, but it didn't seem to make any difference.  The leaf peeled off easily.  The leaves are smaller so I waited for about 6 hours before I tried to handle the castings.  It worked out fine.  They have been cleaned and will be left to cure a while before painting.

Castings of fig leaves to be used in the tabletop fountain

Fig leaves on sand mounds ready for cement application
(the gray blobs are weights made of extra concrete)

Leaf Casting Broken

Well, it's going to happen.  I did a second casting using the same elephant ear which worked beautifully but it cracked when I tried to lift it off of the sand to turn it over.  Disappointed but I will use it to test different stain effects I want to try.  Don't throw your broken pieces away!  Use them for your testing.

Broken leaf... I will use it for testing stain effects