Fall Drawings

Directions - Class #1

We are going to look leaves so that we can draw and paint them! We will also be talking about warm and cool colors. You will need:

  • watercolor paper

  • water soluble pastels or oil pastels


  1. Take a look at this slideshow with photos of leaves as well as a few artists who like to have leaves as part of their artwork.



  1. What do you notice about the leaves? What different parts does a leaf have?



  1. Now look at this quick video about cool and warm colors. When you think of leaves in the fall, do their colors tend to be warm or cool?



  1. If it is autumn, go outside and collect some leaves! Then use warm colors of your water soluble pastels to draw the outline and the veins of the leaves. How many leaves can you fit onto your page? Can you make them overlap? Leave the background for now.

Directions - Class #2

Now we will add water to our drawings to create a watercolor! Today you will need:

  • Your leaf drawings

  • Paintbrush

  • Water

  • Water soluble pastels OR watercolor paints


  1. With a paintbrush, paint over the leaves you created with water. You will see how the pastels act like watercolors.


  1. While painting, decide if you will fill in your leaves entirely with the color, or if you will leave some parts white from the paper.


  1. Then, with cool color pastels, draw around the leaves. Once the leaves are close to dry, add water to the cool colors you have drawn. You will see a contrast of warm and cool colors! You may want to go back in with the pastels to add more lines. Sometimes yellow is hard to see...you can add orange, red, or brown to your yellow leaves so that you can see the details.