Leaf Carving Art

These amazing pictures show incredibly detailed portraits and pictures, all created out of single leaves. It takes an an incredibly complicated process of almost 60 steps to create the miniature masterpieces Skilled artists spend up to a week working on the incredible creations, which can even be customised to show your own face

Leaf Art originated in China and is a rapidly-growing craze around the world. Dean Prator, 55, President of Leaf Carving Art in California says that people are amazed when they come across the beautiful designs "I have personally shown these leaves to art galleries and once people actually see and feel the quality of this product, they are simply in awe..."

"...People always ask if the leaf is from a real tree and are stunned at how the images are engraved into the individual leaves. When they find out they are handcarved they are often surprised that someone could be that skilled"

Creating the finished product is an extremely complicated process. It takes about 60 steps from start to finish. But the four most basic steps are drying, curing, shaving and pressing of the leaves

The outer surface of the leaf is then removed with specially hand crafted tools, leaving the vein of the leaf intact, which add detail to the subject matter. The artist then meticulously carves an image on the leaf by hand

The finished product is as soft as silk and the leaves are generally eight to ten inches in size. It takes a few days to carve each leaf. but a personal photo, or a customised design can take up to a week for skilled artists to complete.