Creativity #tbt: Graphite Rubbing

Flowers and leaves are one of my favorite sources of inspiration for textile patterns. I often sketch the shapes but here is an example of a technique called rubbing. You can get great detail from anything with a texture. I placed a beautiful leaf under a sheet of paper and rubbed the top with a graphic pencil. How fun! And the moment the patterns shows up on the surface ... love the magic of it! 

And here is what I ended up using the leaf rubbing in ...