13th October: Painting Leaves

Right, now it’s your turn to get out there and have a go!

What You’ll Need:

• A handful of autumn leaves – grab different shapes, sizes, and colours. Look for reds, golds, greens, browns, whatever catches your eye really
• Your paints (acrylics work brilliantly for this)
• A bit of paper or canvas – nothing fancy needed
• A viewfinder (just cut a small hole in a bit of card – it’s brilliant for isolating colours)

Part One: Colour Matching

Before you dive into painting, spend a bit of time just mixing colours. Hold your viewfinder over different parts of the leaf and really look at what you’re seeing. That brown might actually be quite dark. That yellow might have a touch of red in it.

Mix up a few colours and test them against your leaf. It’s amazing what you discover when you really look closely.

Part Two: Have a Go at Painting

Pick one leaf that speaks to you and just start. Begin with the overall colour – block it in, get rid of that white. Then start adding those subtle shifts – the darker bits, the lighter bits, those lovely warm or cool tones.

Don’t worry about getting every vein perfect. Think about the suggestion of them rather than painting every single detail (unless that’s your thing, then go for it!).

Part Three: Play Around

This isn’t about creating a masterpiece. It’s about discovery. Try a few different leaves. See what happens when you layer colours. Notice how those subtle changes make such a difference.

Remember:

• There’s no right or wrong here
• Don’t be hard on yourself – it’s the playing and learning that matters
• Keep your paintings, even if you’re not thrilled with them. You might be surprised later
• The more you look closely at nature, the more you start to see as an artist

Autumn is absolutely perfect for this exercise. The colours are gorgeous, leaves are everywhere, and there’s something quite magical about bringing a bit of the outdoors onto your canvas.

I can’t wait to see what you create!