How To Paint Waving Flag – 3 Colors

Before we know it, the 4th of July will be here. So I want to post some easy painting projects you can start now.

This flag is really just a study in simple highlighting and shading. Highlight creates the illusion of bringing things forward; shading makes the area recede.

First, just basecoat your flag with red, white & blue.


Then add white on the left side of the ‘folds’.


I also added some white to accentuate the curves of the ‘fabric’.


Then add blue shading next to the white highlights on the ‘folds’. Do this on each stripe – red & white.


Topcoat with your original colors – blue over blue; red over red; white over white. One coat will not completely cover your highlighting & shading. I use acrylic craft paint. Any ol’ kind will do. I have used latex house paint. That won’t cover in one coat either. I just happen to like the rich color choices in craft paint.



There you have it! Do you see how the highlighting & shading makes a flat piece of paper seem 3-d? It’s a really simple way to create fabric folds with only three colors. You could add more folds simply by adding more curves with highlighting/shading lines. And just 3 colors!

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Colleen