What you’ll need
Seasonal flowers, foliage or leaves
Scissors
Watercolour paper (if you don’t have this, loo roll will do)
A stack of heavy books
Step One: Choose seasonal flowers, foliage or leaves
Take a look at what’s in season to choose your muse. I’ve recently rediscovered Cicely Mary Barker’s 1920s Flower Fairies through this Instagram revival – aside from the beautiful nostalgic drawings, they’re also very useful to see what you can forage for each season.
The shape of the leaf, flower or foliage can be the best feature of your artwork; I really like oak leaves and rose leaves. However, it’s much easier if the thing you’re pressing naturally lies flat. That’s why I like the end result of the pressed pansies. Daffodils, on the other hand, are very tricky to press.
If you’re pressing flowers, pay attention to the colours because they turn several shades darker. If you choose something white, the petals may turn a dark cream or yellow and reds and pinks will turn a deep crimson.