LeafLines • Prints by Mark McAfee Brown

LeafLines are a series of natural/digital art works that use leaves to create dynamic negative space made by the visual interplay of the color, texture and shape of individual leaves against a solid background color. The images are calligraphic and have a visual vibrancy and intensity created by the figure/ground relationship of the leaves with the background space. They are created by scanning individual leaves and compositing the artwork in Photoshop. I start with a blank, black background and then build and compose the images using leaves from my house plants, garden and neighborhood. These are the simplest, most abstract artworks I have ever created. Some of them are composed using only two leaves. and a black background. Leaves are placed on top of a scanner with the scanner lid left open. I do a large number of scans until I have all of the picture elements I need for an image. I then compose the images using Adobe Photoshop.