Hammered Flowers Experimentation Samples...

Recently I discovered an amazing print technique by using actual flowers to print a picture. I used water colour textured paper for the best results. I also used calico and cotton fabric to print onto. The paper picks up the natural dye of the flower head when pressure is applied revealing the same colour and texture from the actual flower head. It looks so realistic that it looks like it has been hand painted using water colours. This was really fun to do as it produces stunning pictures but its very loud to do so pick your timing correctly. Here are the steps to this wonderful technique!

Step 1: Take a flower head and cut off the stem. Make sure the flower isn't too wet as this can affect the print.

Step 2: Place the flower head onto either fabric or card (water colour paper works best.)

Step 3: Place a couple of pieces of kitchen roll over the flower to absorb any excess moisture and dye. Then begin to hammer the flower firmly till the dye comes through the tissue. Be careful when using the hammer as it can be dangerous when used with force.

Step 4: Peel away the kitchen roll and gently peel away the remaining flower head. This can be done easier with tweezers to peel away the petals if it gets stuck to the fabric.

Here is the finished result on calico.