“I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees…”
– Henry David Thoreau
Getting outside right now is a great way to feel refreshed. Let’s make a super easy spring-inspired project together.
Supplies you will need:
- watercolour paper, any size. (If you don’t have watercolour paper use whatever you have).
- masking tape to create a frame around the sides
- paper towel to blend the pastel
- a variety of chalk pastels. I used turquoise blue, dark blue, yellow, pink, bright pink, light green and dark green. (If you don’t have chalk pastels use crayons, pencil crayons or paint to create your background).
- black acrylic paint. I am using craft paint from the Dollar Store
- a fine paintbrush
First start by using the turquoise blue, lay it down on its side at the top of the page for the sky and pull across the watercolour paper. Add some dark blue, just a bit. Next add some yellow and then the pinks. Follow with more light and dark blue to represent the water in our landscape and lastly add some light and dark green to create the grass. Next use the paper towel to carefully blend each colour on its own. Be sure to use a clean area of the paper towel for each colour. Assess your work and decide where you might need more and go ahead and add it. Be sure to blow the excess chalk pastel off when you are finished.
Now its time to start painting!
Start your tree to one side of your composition, it is always more interesting to have the main subject of your painting a little off the center of the page.
Remember that the trunk of the tree will be the widest part and each branch will be a little more narrow. Where the branches connect to the tree, they will be a little wider as well. Push harder on your brush to make a wider brush stroke and then gently pull the brush away from the page to make a gradually thinner and thinner line until the end of the branch comes to a point.
Take your time and make your tree exactly how you want to! Some of the branches can overlap each other as well, and not every branch needs to be straight. When you walk through a forest all the trees are unique – just like every new tree, you paint as well!
Great Work!