As any artist would be, I’m crazy about colors.I love how complimentary,analogous and triadic colors work. So it’s no surprise that I adore the fall season.Although I can only experience autumn through photographs,I can definitely breathe life into them through art.So in today’s tutorial, I’m going to show you how to paint leaf wreaths in fall colors.
How I wish I could experience the wonderful season of autumn. I love how nature creates beautiful hues of browns,reds and purples to form an array of colors that are so mesmerizing. In Doha,the weather pattern is pretty much in the lines of summer-winter-summer with occasional sandstorms.The only thing that marks fall here are the Pumpkin Spice lattes that make their appearance at Starbucks.
In today’s tutorial on how to paint leaf wreaths,I’ve shown two examples-A complicated fall wreath and a simple green leaf wreath.My post on how to paint floral watercolor wreaths – Part 1 and Part 2 were so well received by you that I thought it was only fair I do another one. I created the fall wreath to send it off to one of my friends in the U.S. for Thanksgiving. I know that it’s almost a month and a half away but as an artist and blogger running behind a toddler, it’s best to plan before hand.Raise your hand working mommies!
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Materials you’ll need to paint leaf wreaths are:-
- Watercolor paper-I used a Canson watercolor blank greeting card because I’ll be sending this off as snail mail.They come with envelopes of the same watercolor texture and the finish is beautiful.Alternately, you can also make your own greeting cards out of watercolor paper by following this post on Design*Sponge I did recently.
- Watercolor paints – I recommend Winsor and Newton Cotman watercolors for beginners and Sennelier paints if you want to invest in high quality artist paints.
- Watercolor brushes
- General’s cork straight holder(optional)
- Brause rose nib(optional)
- Winsor and Newton calligraphy ink(optional)
- Palette
- Water
1.Fall leaf wreath
I used the Sennelier 24 pan watercolor set for this painting.The colors I used are
- Naples yellow deep
- Cobalt violet light hue
- Phthalocyanine blue
- Phthalo,green light
- Yellow ochre
- Warm Sepia
- French vermillion
Step 1:Draw a rough circle in pencil (very lightly)for your wreath guideline.I’ve used maple leaves for the wreath here.Start with a base of naples yellow deep.While the paint is still wet,add some french vermillion.
Step 2:In the image below, I painted a leaf using Cobalt violet light hue.I painted it i na smaller size under the leaf I first painted.
Step 3:By mixing Phthalo,green light and a tiny bit of yellow ochre, I painted the next leaf.By varying the sizes and colors of the leaves, you can create interest.
Step 4:The next leaf is a mix of Cobalt violet light hue and Phthalocyanine blue.This creates a deep beautiful purple.Continue to add more leaves by mixing different colors to get warm hues.
Step 5:When the initial leaves were dry, I painted veins on it with a darker shade of their respective colors.I kept one or two large leaves and the remaining smaller to medium sized. However, you can paint in any way you wish.
Step 6: Complete the leaves to form a wreath.When you paint leaf wreaths that are inspired by fall, it isn’t necessary that you need to do maple leaf alone.You can use any leaf but the colors will be different from the usual green.
Step 7: Since, I’ll be sending this for Thanksgiving,I thought it would be complete with “thanks”written inside.This was created using a dip pen fitted with a calligraphy nib.This step is optional.However, if you want to write a few words inside and you’re not comfortable with calligraphy pens, you can use Sigma micron pens that are waterproof.They dry quickly too.
2.Simple leaf wreath
In my last post, I had explained the process of painting a simple leaf.To paint leaf wreaths,you can follow the same technique.
Colors used:-
- Forest green
- Viridian green
- Phthalo,green light
- Lemon yellow
This is basically a one step process.It’s just repeating the different elements to complete the wreath.
Draw a circle with pencil as a guideline.Start painting small leaflets overlapping each other and emerging in different directions.Change the shades of green as you progress.Continue till you reach the starting point.Your wreath is done!
What do you think?
Now wasn’t that fun? And not to mention colorful too?Does the fall season bring amazing memories to you?I would love to hear your wonderful stories.Let me know in the comments below or send me some e-mail love.And if you try how to paint leaf wreaths,show me by tagging your posts with #makeinkstruck on Instagram.Also don’t forget to pipe in your suggestions.
Cheers!
AWESOME! Thank-you so much, looking forward to trying this. I made some notecards using your tutorial for the abstract trees. They looked better than they had a right to thanks to your tutorial. I am an older empty-nester and just starting to flex my creative muscle now that I finally have a bit of free time after work. This was such a fun project for me, and I am going to try more. You are such a talented artist. I don’t have your gift for art, but I so enjoy learning from you and having fun creating. I have never had any instruction, just painting with watercolors as a child, so I really appreciate that you break it down in lots of steps.
Hi Shay. This comment absolutely made my day. I am so so happy that you find my tutorials helpful and that it is easy to follow.I do try and break it down into as many steps as I can because I’ve had trouble before looking up for art forms I’ve wanted to learn and there were resources which were only vague. Giving back whatever little knowledge I have is the most I can do. I would love to see the trees that you did. You can e-mail me if you’re hesitant to post it on social media.I would love to see and please ask away if you need help or if you have ideas for tutorials. Thank you for taking the time out to write such a lovely comment.
Thank you very, very much for sharing your time and talents! You make lovely things and then make it easy for others to learn to create. After many years of feeling like I had no talent, I’ve picked up my watercolours and begun card making. With practice, it’s starting to come together. I’ve been looking for an idea for a thank-you card for our family physician who has given us many years of exceptional care, but is now leaving his practice. The fall-leaf wreath is perfect! Thank you for the idea. I sure hope I can make it look somewhere close to as nice as yours.
This comment absolutely made my day.The fact that my tutorials have inspired you to pick up those brushes is the best compliment I can get.I really hope your physician loves it.Thank you so much for your kindness.I would love to see what you did.If you’re hesitant about putting it up on social media,you can always e-mail it to me.Thanks once again for the comment.Means a lot to me 🙂
I am so pumped to try this!! And I have to check out the floral wreath tutorial too. I have zero experience with watercolours, but I’ve painted with acrylics for years. Lately I’m obsessed with hand lettering, but I’m still really new to that too. This is such a perfect accompaniment to lettering. I have two little kids and haven’t done anything artistic for a few years, but I love that this kind of thing only takes a small amount of time, so I can actually fit it into my day. It’s amazing how just a little creativity in my day has helped me feel like my old (pre-kid) self!! Thank you so much for your tutorials! <3
Thank you so much for the amazingly kind words. I have a toddler at home too so I know how it is to try and fit everything you want to do in your schedule.I love doing simple tutorials like these so that the beginner artist or creative moms like you can create without sacrificing a lot of time. Lettering has gained popularity in the last few months and I’m so glad to see an upsurge in traditional art as apposed to digital. I’m so glad the blog has inspired you to click.Please do share it with if you try it out.My e-mail address is [email protected].
Thanks so much for your simple leaf wreath tutorial! The winter blahs have struck me but I am going to give this a try today! You broke it down beautifully! Many thanks!
Thank you for stopping by Deborah. I’m so glad that you found the tutorial useful.I would absolutely LOVE to see what you come up with. Our winters have not gone into unbearable mode yet(I stay in Doha) but I’m dreading the summer seasons as it tends to get extreme.Plus there is no “spring” period as such, just an extended winter phase. Thanks again and have a lovely day!
Just wanted to let you know that this is my most re- pinned post on Pinterest! Blessings to you.
That’s lovely to hear. Thank you for pinning!
Gracias por compartir tus tutoriales, ya hice una corona de hojas pero voy hacer tambien las que publicaste asi practico, participe en todos tus desafios menos el de enero ya que en febrero encontre tu blog. Me gusta mucho y creo que estoy mejorando cada dia. Saludos Cecilia.
Yo los publico en facebook en el grupo Learn modern watercolors.
Thank you so much for your kinf words. I had them translated to get an idea of what you’re saying and it means a lot to me. Have fun painting! x