PIY Fall Leaf #1

A few days ago, I was explaining to my 3 year old grandson how leaves turn colors this time of year.

In his typical 3 year old way, we looked all over the park for golden yellow leaves. We barely found one tree.

I guess the late indian summer heat has prolonged the season and the trees haven’t turned yet.

Then I realized I haven’t painted any for years.

For this leaf, you only need 2 colors – antique yellow/gold and any orangish color.

You could certainly add more colors if you want – burgundy, green, brown. Any and all would work.

I painted these a long time ago and they have all sorts of colors, even metallic gold.

But we’ll just use 2 colors to keep it simple.

Step 1. Download any fall leaf clip art you like.

Since I haven’t uploaded my pattern. Again.

Sorry.

Step 2. Paint the veins of the leaf.

You can add more later, if you want. I always start with the veins because it gives me a basic shape. I like to curve the longest vein so the leaf doesn’t look flat.

Step 3. Basecoat the leaf with antique yellow/gold.

You can paint right over the veins. They’ll still show thru the topcoats.

Step 4. Paint a section of the leaf with the yellow paint.

Just a section. You’re going to add some orange to it, so you want a small section so it stays wet.

Step 5. Paint a little orange paint onto the wet yellow area. Smoosh it around.

Wet-blend paint all over the leaf.

You can make some areas more orange, some more yellow. It’s up to you.

Step 6. With a liner brush, paint the veins again.

Whoops! I forgot I used raw sienna (yellow brown) for the veins. Any brown will work. Or brown mixed with the yellow paint. Or orange.

That’s the thing about painting fall leaves. It’s really fun to blend all the different colors together.

You could spend hours on one leaf! But don’t. Just let it dry, see what it looks like, and move on to another one, trying different colors.

Have fun!