Fall leaves

How to Paint a Fall Leaf in Watercolor

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

This week, find a leaf that inspires you and paint it. I’ve uploaded a video of my process for painting a leaf:

  • With pencil I outline the basic shape.
  • I use just three colors – cadmium yellow, cadmium red, and ultramarine blue and mix colors as I go. From those three colors I create all the fall colors I need – purples, maroons, browns.
  • I work wet encouraging the colors to bleed into one another.

It’s fun and relaxing. Check out the video below and watch my painting process. Then find your leaf and start painting. I’d love to see – tag me on Instagram @eileenmckenna.

Please like the video and subscribe!

Want a comprehensive guide to getting started in watercolor? Check out “Beginner Watercolor Exploration.” Learn the fundamentals. Practice with exercises and projects. Discover a love of watercolor!

Start your watercolor journey today! Learn more here.

Beginner Watercolor Exploration Guide pdf download | how to guide beginner watercolor

Painting Leaves in Watercolor

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

Fall Leaves in Watercolor by Eileen McKenna

Recently I painted a pile of leaves in watercolor. It was an easy relaxing process:

  • Collect a few leaves
  • Trace the leaves
  • Mix fall colors from yellow, red and blue
  • Work wet and encourage the colors to bleed and blend.

Believe it or not, I’m often more interested in how it feels to sit and paint than what the final results are. Sure, there is satisfaction in how a painting comes out and sometimes frustration when I can’t achieve my vision. But the process of sitting and painting is…the best.

I shared a video on how I created the watercolor pile of leaves painting. Grab your paints and give it a try!

Please like the video and subscribe!

Want a comprehensive guide to getting started in watercolor? Check out “Beginner Watercolor Exploration.” Learn the fundamentals. Practice with exercises and projects. Discover a love of watercolor!

Start your watercolor journey today! Learn more here.

Beginner Watercolor Exploration Guide pdf download | how to guide beginner watercolor

14 Creative Fall Project Ideas

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

The air feels cooler, I’ve made my first batch of pumpkin bread, and I’m collecting and brainstorming ideas for fun fall projects!

14 Creative Fall Project Ideas:

Nature –  I love projects that involve found elements and paint. Check these out: painting acorns, drawing on leaves (I love the ones with the white pen), decorating a white pumpkin. Now, I’m in competition with the squirrels to collect acorns!

Potpourri – I want to make this homemade fall scented potpourri recipe.

Paper – I’ve just launched a new paper quilt printable kit for fall! It’s a fun and easy project for all ages.

Fiber – This fall leaves fiber art by Franswazz is so cool.

Embroidery – These fall embroidery kits look fun.

Recycle – This paper bag tree is so interesting. I’d like to use it in a fall terrarium.

Wood burning – I love this wood burned acorn by Italian Artist Liliia of SorrisoDesign. “The design is hand drawn, then carefully and lovingly burned into the solid wood bead with pyrography technique.”

Polymer Clay – Finally! I had a chance to play with my stash of polymer clay, blending colors, creating fall leaves and other fun projects while watching clay videos on YouTube. This is the starter kit I purchased:

Dough Ornaments – I’d like to make a fall version of these cornstarch ornaments.

Watercolor – Paint a realistic looking fall leaf or paint a pumpkin farm. Creating the changing leaves is the best part! Or maybe it’s painting the pumpkin patch?

We all need time to explore – to try a new medium, play around with it, just for the fun of it.

**Try one of my new fall projects by visiting my Etsy shop here.**

Fall Painting Idea Watercolor Fall Farm with Pumpkins Tutorial

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14 Creative Fall Project Ideas

Painting Fall

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

Fun step by step watercolor painting project for fall

Since the start of my blog “My Creative Resolution” and my regular creative practice, I’ve been hugely inspired by the seasons. Creativity literally opened my eyes to the changing landscape. That first fall, I was in awe of the fall foliage. It was like I’d never seen it before! 

With fall in mind, I just developed a new step by step painting project – Watercolor Fall Farm. Watercolor colors blend and bleed into one another making it the perfect medium to capture the changing leaves.

This fun project includes:

  • masking with tape
  • painting fades
  • creating clouds simply
  • wet on wet painting
  • dry on dry
  • mixing all your colors from just three!

Add in pumpkins, a barn, a farmhouse, and oh my!
Download the tutorial pdf in my Etsy shop and start painting fall!

paint fall in Watercolor Tutorial downloadable pdf paint fall in Watercolor Tutorial downloadable pdf

Want a comprehensive guide to getting started in watercolor? Check out “Beginner Watercolor Exploration.” Learn the fundamentals. Practice with exercises and projects. Discover a love of watercolor!

Start your watercolor journey today! Learn more here.

Beginner Watercolor Exploration Guide pdf download | how to guide beginner watercolor

Fall Painting Idea Watercolor Fall Farm with Pumpkins Tutorial

You never really know how a drawing will turn out

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

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As you put your pen to the page to make that first mark, you never really know how things will turn out. At least I don’t know. Sure I have a vision in my head, but that doesn’t mean it will turn out that way.

Personally, I don’t really plan much, I get an idea and just dive in and see what happens. If I’m drawing in ink – which I’m doing a lot this month for InkTober – I rarely do a pencil sketch first. Unless the drawing involves a face or body, then I will do some planning in pencil to get things looking “right.”

I was really pressed for time with this “little guy in the leaves.” The inspiration photo was one of my youngest son probably 8 or 9 years ago. I used pencil first to plan things a little – because you can’t erase ink. I was pleasantly surprised with the results in such a short time.

This drawing experience was the opposite of yesterday’s! I was drawing in the car during my older son’s practice. I first focused in on a nearby car. Within a minute or two of drawing the car, it drove off! Without the car there I had a hard time finishing that part. I drew the car in front of me, but my pen started running out, probably because I was drawing upright on the steering wheel. I ended up focusing on drawing the chain link fence. Like I said, you never know what the result will be when you start drawing!

See all my InkTober blog posts:

Focusing and following through

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

newtree
My last post was about “Coming up with Ideas.” A few of you commented that you have no shortage of ideas. This makes sense as Maya Angelou famously said,

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”

The “ideas” post was from the early days of my creative resolution. While reading through my old posts, I realized that focusing and finishing were recurring themes. Previously I wasn’t successful with my creative projects because I was always starting and stopping, and never finishing. Which left me feeling discouraged.

I started this creative journey in 2014, by finishing several old projects and doing several projects that I had always wanted to try. Accomplishing these things made me feel good, and so I kept going, with new projects.

I’ve come a long way since then. I try to draw or paint every day. I always shy away from the word “daily” because I’m more likely to paint and draw a lot for a day or two. Do nothing for a day or two, and then get back to it again.

I keep a notebook of “to do” lists and project ideas. I check off things as I go, and look back to see if I forgot anything. I’ll keep an old idea on the list for a while. Of course, I don’t get to everything, but it feels amazing to accomplish something that’s been on my list for months. The percentage of unfinished projects is much, much lower than it was before MCR.

Recently I wanted to be creative, but didn’t know where to start. I literally felt anxious. I sat down and wrote out all the ideas buzzing in my head. When I was done, I felt like I could breath again. Just writing the ideas down, cleared my head, and helped me prioritize. And then I started to create. 🙂