Cyanotype image made with flower and leaves
Watch the sun create a dark blue piece of art with paper, flowers and leaves.
For this project we start outside and collect plants, leaves, and flowers. We can also look around the classroom for flat objects to use on the light sensitive paper.
Once we have collected all of the objects we would turn a couple lights off to get our light sensitive paper. Have each artist write their name on the back of their paper. Put the paper on a board, then place the objects on the light sensitive paper. Once our objects have been placed, we can clip them on the glass and bring them outside to be exposed in the UV light.
Depending on the weather the exposure can take 5-20 minutes and the paper will go from blue to silver to bronze. When we see it turn to a bronze colour, then we bring our boards back inside and unclip our paper. We then put the paper in cold water basin to stop the exposure and see our art come to life! After the paper has been rinse for a couple minutes it is hung up to dry. You then have an amazing piece of art created with plants, paper and the sun!
Materials-
Watercolour paper
Cyanotype solutions (2)
Bowl for solution
Foam brush
Old picture frame with glass and back
Binder clips
Somewhere to hang prints to dry
Basins with cold water
Depending on the age and level of the students you can:
Learn about plants
Arrange compositions
Think about the outlines of objects
Compare transparent objects to opaque
Learn about UV rays
Learn about chemical reactions
