Autumnal Leaf Mobiles
Winter workshops took on a seasonal theme – and for the Saturday workshop we created autumn leaf mobiles. After gathering as many different types of leaves as I could find, back in the studio the young creatives were asked to look at their different shapes and have a go at drawing the outlines of them.
After showing everyone some colour wheels and we talked about opposite colours, colour families and hot/cold colours. The children were encouraged to think about adding colour in a simple but bold way using perhaps just 2/3 or so colours which had a relationship with one another. After looking at some leaf inspired designs and illustrations, the children were asked to playfully add colourful and bold designs to their leaf shapes. We used Sharpies on quite thin paper so the colour would easily be seen on the ‘reverse’ side – if needed, any gaps were filled in to ensure each leaf had a double sided design.
These stylised leaves were then carefully cut-out, a single hole punched in each and then coloured yarn was tied to each leaf. These were then attached to a twig, choosing the position of each carefully to create a well balanced mobile. The results were really beautiful each with a very different personality.
