JELLYFISH
|
Things you need:
|
Steps:
Base paint:
Base paint:
- Mix blue and black until you get a navy blue.
- Cover the canvas completely in navy blue. You can paint the sides if you want them to be the same color.
- Make a large circle about the size of your hand in the top left corner (about three fingers from the left and top edge). This will be the head of the jellyfish.
- At the bottom of the large circle, make a semicircle, which will serve as the opening for your jellyfishes’ tentacles to come from.
- From the highest point of your semicircle, guide yourself straight across the head to the top of your jellyfish. From there, make arced lined from there to the bottom of the jellyfish head. Each line should end about two fingers apart from each other.
- From the corners of the jellyfish’s new opening, draw two squiggles downward that will be your “guidelines” for the tentacles.
- Choose your base color for your jellyfish. Do not choose light/bright yellow. It will not show up.
- With this base color, line the lines you sketched on the jellyfish. Then, for the bubbles, add a small dash of paint following the circular motion of the circle so that it looks like the color is reflecting.
- Choose another color. Use this to roughly fill the gaps in the jellyfish’s head. Add a few tentacles in this color and add a reflective dash of this color into each of the bubbles
- Choose a third color and layer this on top of the existing colors on the jellyfish’s head. Fill any remaining gaps with this color. Add a few tentacles to the bottom and add a dash to the bubbles
- Repeat this process until your jellyfish looks how you want it to look. Try to use four or more colors in total. Now is the time to go in with bright colors like yellow and pack those in. Note where your light source is coming from (is it coming from the top? The left? Or the right?) and pack in your brightest colors there. Don’t forget to add each color to your bubbles!
- Finally, get a small brush and your white paint. Highlight the areas closest to your light source, and maybe draw a few stray tentacles You can also add dots to your jellyfish’s head and/or to the bubbles around it.
- Sign your name and you’re done!
Golden tree
|
Things you need:
|
Steps:
- Note the middle of the canvas and draw a black horizonal line about three fingers below it. (Wash brush thoroughly before using it for another color)
- Cover the center of the canvas in pink, stop about a hand’s length away from the top and bottom edge of the canvas
- Cover the rest of the canvas in purple, so that the gradient of colors mirrors each other on the top and bottom. Try to blend the colors while the pink is still wet. Note: you should still be able to see that first black line, don’t worry about covering it up yet.(Might want to let dry after this step.)
- About a hand’s length away from your line, begin outlining the shape of your distant mountains. They can be round, like hills, or sharp and angled. They don’t need to be too tall. (try to stay mostly in your pink region.)
- Color in solid black from your outline down to your first black line.
- While that dries, come to the bottom of the painting (the foreground) with the black paint and add hills in the corners. They can be simple or have bumps for some bushes. (Make sure your black paint is dry before continuing.)
- Put the distant mountains out of your mind for now, and focus on something closer, the grass. Not going more than three fingers tall, color where you want your grass that your tree will be surrounded by.
- Use the same green to all flecks below the line that will be the reflection of the grass in the water.
- Also use the same green to fill in the hills in the corners. Leave a tiny outline of the black left so that the color pops. You can even add some browns or yellows to your green to give it more variation.
- Now, use orange to go back to your distant hills and fill those in the same you did with the green. Leave a sliver of black between the orange and the green so that both colors pop. You can add some red in the mix if you want to make it unique, just leave the border of black on all the sides except the right and left sides.
- Add orange to your water reflections below the line.
- While that dries, move to your sky, and paint some blotches of black for clouds and/or the moon. The white will be filled in later.
- After your orange is dry, you can add details like lines (if you did mountains) or curves (if you chose hills). Place as many as you want, just try to follow the flow of the shapes you have already made with the orange paint.
- To begin the tree, use black paint and eyeball the center of your canvas (it doesn’t have to be in the center either, it can work if it’s on the side if you’re nervous about symmetry) Draw the trunk with black and outline the shape of your tree in all black. Fill in with black once you are happy with the shape of it. (Let that dry)
- Do your first layer of yellow onto the dry black paint. Yellow paint is usually very transparent, so this will take more than one layer. Have fun with it! Make dots with the brush if you want. Or you can make it a solid color. Just make sure the last layer is dry before you pack on another. Add yellow to your water reflections.
- While you wait for them to dry, get your white and fill in the clouds and moon that you’ve blocked out. You can add a small bit of white to your reflections, but I wouldn’t add too much because it can be distracting.
- Once you are satisfied with the yellow of your tree, you can sign your piece.
Northern lights
|
Things you need:
|
Steps:
- Cover the canvas in dark blue (might want to teach how to mix red in to dim it) paint.
- Halfway up the canvas, use black paint to outline your mountain shapes. (Wait until paint is dry)
- Use one of your bright colors to make a squiggle across the sky
- Starting at this line, brush upward. Remember to pack the brush every other time, but don’t push too hard on the brush.
- Choose your second color and repeat step 4
- Use white and you smallest brush to add highlights. I’d recommend mixing the white with the color you used, so that it’s not too bright, but still pops
- The color you used for the lowest northern light, mix with some black and a dot of white, to create a grey with a twinge of color. Use this color to add a surface to your mountains by starting with a smaller brush at the points of the mountains and wiggling downward.
- Add stars for your night sky and you can add a small moon if you want.
FEATHERS IN A JAR
|
Things you need:
Any color is able to substitute for purple. Any color is able to substitute for blue (but yellow is not recommended) |
Steps:
- Mix white with the color you wish to have as your background color. The white will soften the color. How much you wish to blend is up to you (don’t let it dry completely)
- Once your background is covered, begin sketching the bowl. Start halfway up the canvas and make a upward curve about the size from the bottom of your palm to your knuckles. From the ends of this curve, round out the shape of the bowl. The shape can differ depending on how you want it. For the bottom, do the same slight curve. It doesn’t need be be total round like the rest of the bowl.
- Once you have your preferred shape, use the same color and the wide side of the brush to add some inner color to the bowl to give it the reflective look. Just follow the curve already made and focus on the bottom corners and sides.
- The last thing with this color is to draw a line across the canvas for the surface. This is about two or three fingers above the bottom of the bowl.
- Once you have your preferred shape, use black and create a slanted line from a palm’s length away from the top of your canvas to the inside of the bowl (leave a little space at the bottom of your bowl. Make the very bottom of your line a little wider than the rest. This will be the spine of your feather.
- Draw a few more lines like the first. Take note of spacing and how fat your feathers will be. They are allowed to overlap, but be mindful of how you will paint it.
- Dip your fan brush in the color of paint that you want near the spine of your feather. A lot of this color will be covered up in a minute, but it still serves a purpose. Bright yellow is the only color I don’t really recommend.
- Use the fan brush, starting at the spine of the feather and make soft flicks outward. Not too long of strokes. This is only about half the width of what your feather will be.
- While the color is still wet. Wash brush of all color and dry as thoroughly as you can. This will make it easier for the white to pop. Switch to your smaller brush for a moment and outline your feathers’ edges and full shape.
- With the fan brush, use white to make flicking strokes inward and toward the spine and the color.
- Once that is dry, go back in with your smaller brush and brighten the white in areas that it needs to be.
- Last detail, get your centimeter-sized brush and pack it with white, then give the bowl a little glare of light in one of the top corners.
- Sign it and you’re done.
