You can also “retrace” your vein lines with the traceable and the graphite paper. If needed, look at your traceable template to help guide you through the vein line placement. These should be slightly smaller than the primary vein lines that go down the center of each of the leaf sections. Then paint the other angle lines of the “secondary veins”. Use your brush to paint the main middle line of the leaf. Then thin that paint down so it will be easy to apply. On your palette, mix green and red together (equal parts) to make a warm brown. Alternatively, you can use a tiny round brush. This brush has a very fine point to it and can be used for painting details. I used the #8 round brush in the Princeton Velvetouch Pack of Brushes. Paint veins & stemįor the stems, I recommend using a brush that has thin and long tiny bristles. This helps create more depth in your water. You can add small amounts of black to the outer water areas as well such as blending the black with the blue in the corners. The area of the water that is closest to the leaf should remain dark. Keep filling the water area with a blend of the blues and whites. This means you can paint/ blend the colors onto the canvas and go in an angled direction. When you get to the outer areas of the water, you can do more “expressive strokes”. You can vary this color by adding more white or more blue to it. Then use this lighter blue to paint “flowing” strokes around the leaf shape. Mix equal parts titanium white and phthalo blue on your palette. The direction of the strokes go around the shape of the leaf. Use the #12 bright brush to paint more water. Add some black in the heart cut out area as well. It is also only about 1/4″ of black around the leaf but does not have to be consistent. This black is applied loosely around the leaf but a lot of that blue is still showing through. Loosely blend the black into the blue along the negative space/ outline of the leaf so this area is darker. Next, load a small amount of black on your brush (without rinsing it). Paint Dark Water/Shadow Around Negative Space Of Leaf And Inside Heart Paint about a half inch border of this blue that counters around the shape. Use the color phthalo blue to paint the inside of the heart and the negative space around the leaf. Paint water around negative space of leaf and inside heart Add a little water into the paint if needed to thin it down. Next, neatly outline the shape of the leaf with a very thin line using the cadmium red medium. To do this, simple make little dotted strokes with the green over some of the orange. You can also take some of the green and “stipple it” over the orange areas where it blends. You might get a little bit of a brown color from mixing the green with the red but that is okay! Mix it with yellow and blend it up into the orange area. If you want green on your leaf, blend the green towards the bottom using the light green permanent. Use the round brush to help outline the edges of the leaf and the edges of the heart shape. Continue to blend a combination of the red, yellow and white. Use your #12 bright brush to cover more space faster with the leaf. You are going to continue to fill this leaf up with a blend of the yellow and orange but try not to over blend the colors. Then gently blend it using short angled strokes.Ĭreate variations of the yellow and red that blend to orange. Without rinsing the brush, load some yellow on the tip. Make sure to outline the leaf so the edges are crisp. Start on one point of the leaf and with the color red. Use your #4 round brush to start painting the shape of the leaf in. Note: you can use any shade of red, yellow and green for this! Load your palette with the colors: cadmium red medium, cadmium yellow medium, light green permanent and titanium white. Next, draw a heart shape in the middle of the leaf and erase the inside of the heart. The drawing of the leaf will transfer to the canvas. Position it onto the canvas and place a sheet of graphite paper below it. Print out the template for the maple leaf.

Sugar maple leaf outline