Getting to grips with the technical aspects of 2 to 3D paper folding has been a learning curve. The aspects of maintaining integrity of a design as it shifts from flat to stand-up has been fun. There is a slight admission to having a inner nerd who just loves engineering, and this is a minor project which has made rusted cogs kick into action.
It started by collecting oak leaves, flattening and drying them, then using them for printmaking.
The original mock-up was made looking at the leaves, paying scant regard to the workings of the piece. Believing at first I needed pliable paper which was less likely to maintain a crease, I looked first at Yoshimi, then tracing paper. These leaves above are on tracing paper, which was later repeated (below) with oil-based inks. and I enjoyed the colours. However, they crackled and creased when folded and held for a while.
It became obvious bigger guns were needed so a collagraph plate was made using flattened, dried oak leaves. A small plate was also made with leaves in a circular centre as a backdrop for the piece.
Printed in the workshop using oil-based relief printing inks, these were cut out and fused with another by making a third 'chimera' leaf using half of one and half of the other. Two don't work when working 3D. (It's in the name). :) Three create a bouncy structure which folds flat and opens when pulled with the spreading sheet. This time a thicker material was used; 250GSM Snowden.
I have always thought 3 to be a magic number, cropping up in mathematics, physics (3 fundamental particles) folklore and religion (holy trinity). It seems to be hard-wired.
The tree itself is too large to scale into a leaf project, but acorns are not, so some were made using mount board, (fake) gold leaf from Ireland, and shoe polish. A hammer and screw came in handy too.
This part of the project is almost finished, so more to come later.