Many of us are familiar with the craft of making leaf rubbings. You find a sturdy leaf and put a piece of paper over it. Using a crayon without a paper wrapper, rub back and forth to get the impression of the leaf on the paper. Lovely.
But I recently learned about flower rubbings–or flower poundings. Using the flowers’ natural color, you can create a rubbing that picks up the color from the natural flower dye onto a paper.
Materials
- Good quality water color paper, or any sturdy paper
- Paper towels
- Freshly picked flowers. Choose ones with deep colors. Avoid fluffy or squishy flowers.
- Hammer or rock for pounding
- Place your watercolor paper on a hard surface such as a tabletop, not outside on the grass.
Place the flowers on the water color paper and top with 2-3 layers of paper towels.
Make small, even taps with the hammer. This will help the flower stay in place. Then, with the hammer, gently rub up and down, side to side.
To check if it’s done, slowly peel away the paper towel layers. If you can see the full image on the towel, you probably have a finished product on your paper. You might not have perfect edges, but you can use a marker or colored pencil to create these. It will add to the uniqueness of your project!
Here’s a website with detailed instructions: https://www.thekimsixfix.com/2015/02/flower-pounding-to-create-watercolor.html