It is much more difficult to pick up detail from the molds when using entire cards. Working this way, I focus on articulation of the stem vein and contour of the leaf. They still need a lot of work but I feel it's a move in the right direction. Rather than thinking of these leaves as a separate body of work from the others I intend to display them together so that they add context to the more realistic leaves.
I've also been experimenting with laying large areas of text into the mold before adding pulp. This way the leaves are a composite of processed and unprocessed paper. I tried to lay in the text randomly so that it doesn't appear too contrived. Some are more successful than others. For instance, I respond more favorably to the leaf with text in mostly alternating diagonals rather than the leaf with mostly horizontal text with some diagonals near the top. I need to figure out a way to make the text appear effortlessly random.
The molds are not only the negative of the cast works but the way you photographed them (on the newspaper) has also inverted the text outside of the object. I think this is brilliant.
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