A nature collage is the perfect way to preserve fall leaves, cattails and other dried plants.

Nature Collage
A nature collage is the perfect way to preserve fall leaves, cattails, wheat and other dried plants.There's a variety of different nature themes that you can use to create your nature collage. From fall leaves and cat tails to seashells, almost anything is fair game when it comes to creating a nature collage. With its bright cheerful colors our nature collage will decorate your home and be enjoyed for years to come. Just take a walk outside and start collecting bits and pieces of nature to use in your collage. If you don't have dried natural plants you can create a nature collage by using artificial leaves and flowers found at your local craft store. All of the supplies for this project can be found at Dick Blick or Mr. Art.

The supplies you need to make a nature collage are:
Bits and pieces of nature: leaves, dried flowers, dried wheat, cat tails, pinecones, or seashells etc. You can also use artificial leaves and flowers.	Mosaic grout or sheetrock paste
Gesso artist primer	Container to rinse brushes in
Minwax Polycrylic protective finish	Plastic lid or artist palette for mixing paint
Golden or Basics acrylic paint in naphthol red, burnt sienna, cadmium yellow and mars black	Small and medium size paint brushes
Preprimed artist canvas in your choice of size	Paper towels
Steps for making your nature collage are:


1. Start by laying out your leaves, twigs, cat tails etc on your artist canvas. You can also mix in artificial leaves and plants for variety.	2. Apply a layer of gesso artist primer to your dried or artificial plants.	3. Check to make sure that you have all of your plants covered with gesso. Add more gesso if you have any bare spots.

4. Mix mosaic grout or sheetrock paste and gesso at a rate of 2 parts paste to 1 part gesso. Take small clumps of this paste and push it into any crevices or holes that are around your plants. I use this paste to build up the area around thick stems.	5. Layout your paint and brushes. I like to use Golden and Liquidtex brand paint for my nature collages because the paint is thick and it comes in a range of vibrant colors.	6. Put a small blot (about a quarter size) of napthol red, burnt sienna and cadmium yellow on your plastic lid (or painter's palette). Mix some of your red and yellow together to make a bright orange color.

7. In order to create a dark background with light highlights put your lighter colors (yellows, light browns, light orange) on your entire canvas first. Let this dry. Next, apply your darker colors, (burnt sienna, dark red, dark yellow) but don't let this dry.	8. Before your second layer is dry began blotting off some of the darker paint on your leaves etc with a paper towel. This will expose the lighter paint underneith. Once you get the result that you want, let this dry.	9. After your paint is dry apply a layer of clear acrylic sealer. The sealer will look milky when you apply it but will dry clear.

	Once your nature collage is finished it will last for years to come. The nature collage pictured above was created over 20 years ago