I am delighted to share with you my how-to-paint a simple still life lesson and printable worksheet.
This free worksheet is a simple lesson in the form of a printable worksheet that you can print and give to your kids.This is a watercolor project with a cup of tea, creamer, sugar bowl, spoon, and napkin on a table. Most of the subjects are white, so we do minimal work on them- just a little wash-in to give shadows and roundness. The dark background is a contrast that brings the subjects forward. We keep things simple so everyone will have good results.
If you have problems printing, see the HOW TO PRINT tab for suggestions.
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| Easy Painting Lesson for Still Life With Tea Cup |
I am happy to create these and share them with you for free. You are welcome to download and print as many as you like.
Thank You!
CLICK HERE to go to an image file that works better with newer printers.
LESSON NOTES
FIRST
Trace the outline of the still life onto 140 lb watercolor paper. If the paper is too thick to trace, try holding it against the window with the light shining through to trace it.
UNDER-WASH
The background is dark but does not use straight black.
1 Start by getting the background area around the subjects wet.
2 Drop-in watery blues and reds or blues and browns.
3. Clean your brush and swish the colors around a little to blend but have interesting clouds.
4 Drop-in some watery black but just a little where the background meets the foreground or around the shapes of the subjects. This way, the background looks interesting and not just flat. If it is splotchy, use a clean brush with some water and smooth things out a bit.
Use a very watery wash of red for the table cloth, add lavender and dark blue for the shadows.
Give the lids their first wash of pale blue and use a blue-gray mixture to shadow the white cup, creamer, and sugar bowl.
Drop a little darker blues, violets, and lavenders into the watery shadow areas on the cup, creamer, and sugar bowl to give it a more round look.
Drop a little darker blue into the shadow side of the blue lids on the creamer and sugar bowl.
Add a little of the darks around the handles of the cup and creamer.
Use a slight brown on the napkin and some gray on the spoon.
Add green in the cup for the tea and some green for the teabag tag.
ART SUPPLY LIST
You can use any watercolor paint. I prefer my small Windsor Newton paint set; it has a nice selection of colors. I also use Grumbacher Paints in the tubes. You can easily find these at any craft store like Lobby Hobby or Michaels. (Look for coupons online.) You can collect lots of paintbrushes, but it is better at the start to keep it simple with a few small, medium, and medium-large brushes and a combination of flats as well as rounded paintbrushes. For these art lessons, I use Strathmore series 300 Watercolor paper. It is economical and available at Michaels and Hobby Lobby and online
(c) Adron D. 7/12/15
