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Even a layman knows a maple

A palmate leaf with five pointed lobes is one of the few leaves a viewer can tell apart even in a small scale. That is exactly why maple suits a setting: a handful of leaves at the foot of a tree is enough and it is clear what species grows above the scene, without its having to be built at all.

What a laser can do with the shape

A divided blade is a hard nut for any mechanical production, because between the lobes runs a deep notch ending in a sharp point. A laser beam follows such a path regardless of its complexity, and on top of that it darkens the edge slightly. With fallen leaves that is an advantage, because a real blade dries from the edges first.

Working with the finished leaves

• Tip a supply out onto white paper; on a dark surface you will not find the individual pieces
• Tweezers with flat jaws hold a leaf better than a point, which will pierce it
• On a vertical surface apply the glue to the leaf, not to the terrain
• Grade the density; at a trunk the layer is always thicker than in the middle of a path
• Leave free space around puddles, as a wet area will not hold leaves

Color without a brush

The finished leaves can be toned, but carefully. Spraying from less than twenty centimeters will blow them all over the bench, and wet painting will stick them into a clump. The safe route is powdered pigment scattered onto a fixative that is still damp, which settles into the hollows and brings out the veining.

The set is part of a wider family in which the same manufacturer also makes other species. A combination of two kinds on one area looks more convincing than a single-species carpet, because in a real landscape pure stands practically do not exist.