Did you know that a simple straw can be an effective painting tool?Let me show you exactly how it is in this easy tutorial.Plus if you’d like to be a bit more adventurous, I have just the right thing for that too.So go ahead and read on all about how to paint with watercolors using straws.
I can’t tell you the amount of fun I had in making this tutorial.My little munchkin was all puzzled looking at me with the “what’s mommy doing?” expression.In this tutorial, you will be able to learn two different things.First, you’ll learn how to make a fun background of a painting using watercolors and a straw.This can also be a fun kid activity.If you would like to go a step further,then you can also learn the basics of painting realistically with watercolor.
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The materials required to paint with watercolors using straws are
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You’ll also need these other basic supplies
- Regular pencil
- Eraser
- Straw
- Water
- Palette
Step 1: Draw the outline of a simple fruit using a regular pencil. I decided on drawing a pear.Apples,strawberries,cherries,bananas etc make good silhouettes. Now,we need to mask this area.This will protect the surface from the watercolor when applied.I’ve explained about using masking in this post called “watercolor tools,tops and tricks-part 4″.Make sure you use a cheap or an old brush while using masking fluid.It generally kills brushes and you don’t want your expensive ones going bad.Keeping a jar of soap water nearby will help remove the masking fluid from the brush easily.
Mask the pear using the art masking fluid.
Step 2:Take a palette.Squeeze out some of your watercolor paint.I’ve used the color “viridian hue”here.It has a rich and bright hue.
I’ve chosen the Sakura Koi water brush for this tutorial for two reasons.One is that it is reasonably priced with a cost of just over $7.The other is that kids tend to have a heavier hand while working.The bristles of this pen are plastic but extremely flexible and it will last a very long time.I can’t recommend this brush enough.It’s also an excellent tool for modern brush lettering.It also has a water well in which you can fill so then you don’t need to keep another jar with clean water.
Step 3:Once the making fluid is dry,drop some paint around it.While wet,blow into a straw making the paint move.Keep repeating the process as you go around the pear shape.Don’t worry about the direction in which the color moves. The whole point is to have fun when you paint with watercolors using straws.
Step 4:Time to remove all that goo!I can’t stress this enough but make sure that your paint is completely dry before attempting to remove the masking fluid.I used the eraser at the back of my pencil to remove it.Once you get the tip,the rest can be easily removed by pulling with your hands.
You can stop right here and not go further because this in itself looks cool.A small pear silhouette with a fun background!But if you’d like to learn how to paint the pear realistically,you can continue working on it and read further.
Step 5:We’re going to first lay down a wash of lemon yellow hue.This is going to act as the base of the pear.I’ve assumed that the light is falling on the lower left of the pear.This will be your lightest area.
Step 6:To make it look realistic, I painted a reddish brown hue on the top left area making it lighter as I proceeded downwards.Make sure to leave a thin line next to the shadow areas depicting the roundish shape of the pear.I painted the lower right area with a little bit of yellow ochre mixed with lemon yellow.Again don’t forget to leave a thin line wherever the round shape starts.
Darken the colors by layering with the same colors over.For the stem I mixed a little bit of brown with black to get that rich brown shade.The sides were done in darker color and the middle part in the same brown but with a lighter shade.This is is to show the cylindrical shape of the stem.
Darken the colors.Add a few dots in brown here and there to show texture on the skin of the pear.Observe it from a distance and check whether you need to add a few more layers or for imperfections.Darken the background area around the pear to help it pop more. And you’ve painted a beautiful and realistic looking pear.
What do you think?
What a fun tutorial isn’t it?Do you think the littles in your house would love doing this?Would you like to see more realistic tutorials in the future?Let me know all about it in the comments below.And if you try this out,don’t forget to tag or use the hashtag #makeinkstruck on Instagram. I would love to have a peek.
So what are you waiting for?Get those paints out and your straws ready to try this.Thanks for being here.It means a lot to me.Have a splendid day and wonderful weekend 🙂
This is absolutely beautiful! Thank you for making something that looks like it takes way more skill than I could possibly have and making it achievable! I’m going to try this during nap time today! Thank you so much for sharing!
Thank you so much Beth! I aim to do that in most of my tutorials.I’m so glad you are going to try this.I would absolutely love to see it if you do.Have a splendid day!x
Very cool. I had not heard of this technique before.
It is quite a cool technique and the best part of it is that even the kids can attempt! Thanks for stopping by Mary! x
This is beautiful!!
Thanks for all the support Cari! x
Very cool!!!! I need to show my artistic daughter this one! 🙂
Oh that would be really awesome. I bet she’ll have a blast doing this.My son is still a toddler,so he would probably suck the straw into his mouth instead of doing it the other way around.I would love to see it if she tries.Please share :)Thanks so much Susie!x
I am pretty familiar with straw blowing, but masking takes it to a whole new level I love it! Thank you for the great tutorial.
Thank you so much Shar.Really kind of you to stop by.The straw technique is quite fun.I’ve seen tutorials where people create pretty looking tree branches.I would love to try that out someday! x
I think your art is gorgeous. I love your tutorials. I just have one comment. Is it possible to put the white canvas on top of a contrasting colored table or table cloth or something? It’s really difficult to see what’s going on in the pictures sometimes because of all the white reflecting from everywhere.
Hi Erika. Thank you so much for the suggestion. I generally like to use a white background for the clean look it gives. But I do understand that it lacks a bit of contrast.Right now, I use a white table in my workspace where I create my drawings and paintings. I’ll definitely think of a better way to show my posts in the near future. Have a great day and thank you for voicing your concern 🙂