Material is an essential matter which is used by human to  express an art-works.  Through observation of simple paintings which were drew by ancient people in caves showing that: clay and charcoal was first art material used by human.   The more  society develops, the more art materials are discovered,  for instance: oil-paint, lacquer, pigment, water colour, indian ink…In European countries, oil-paint  is used popularly in painting oil. In Vietnam, silk painting is drew by water colour or indian ink while  lacquer painting mainly uses traditional material arts: lac, golden, silver, egg shell…

     Leaf is a new and unique art material. Leaf fall towards the earth, dancing with the wind along the way for a so short time and will come to end. It’s like a homecoming, a well-deserved return to their roots. For each leaf, we have broken that  deadly cycle and bring an eternal life to them. After falling down, gradually leaf will be decayed and loss their  original colour quickly. Combination of  traditionally manual treament and modern technique, our craftsman have kept  original colour of leaf forever and give them more excellent properties: softness, toughness, stable and fast colour.

     Only with hand-made and manual labour, using such simple tool: knife, scissors…our master craftsmans have cutted, torn, pasted … each small piece of leaf to make unique Vietnamese leaf painting with full creation and value of art. The beautiful and vivid colour of natural leaf is an abundant resources of art material which help craftsman fulfil their ideas art. Vietnamese leaf material is espessially successful in description of  ancient quarters with moss-grown walls or description of Vietnamese countryside view:  The elegant roof of communal house with old tiles, an ancient pagoda casting her shadow on the river or a charming girl of ethnic minority in colourfully traditional clothes.

     Leaf exist everywhere surrounding us  but only some of them can meet the demand for making leaf painting. We normally have to come to mountainous areas or forests to find suitable leaf. After collecting, leaf is gathered round workshop to discard unsuitable leaf: tattered, discoloured leaf or leaf hasn’t decayed or begun the decay process. After that, leaf is washed up carefully by hand to clean surface and eliminate stain….The next process is  boiling leaf  stage ( This stage takes 2-3 days depending on each kind of leaf ), this is one of the most important stage because it will influence directly to colour, toughness. Technical parameters: temperature, water level, color stabilizer… will be controlled strictly by master craftsman.  After boiling process, dry leaf with the initial properties: fragile, crispness, easy to loose natural colour… now becoming soft, tough, stable and fast colour. Once boiling leaf process finish, leaf will be exposed to the sun for drying. The temperature have to be high enough and the moisture ensure the quick evaporation from leaf. With some further processes, leaf  now become ideal art material for leaf painting production.