Art Lab, Episode 26

| Allison

Yay, I’m so excited to show you this art today, guys! According to your requests, here is a tutorial for the technique I used to create the last envelope art in this post. It’s a super fun technique and the inspiration behind it is absolutely beautiful too. So let’s get started, shall we?

First of all, the…

Art Prompt:

I found this really amazing spray paint artist who has a YouTube channel called “Skech Art.” He is SO good! When I think of spray paint art I picture graffiti, but he makes actual paintings on canvases. Here’s the video:

Okay, so I could do without the unicorn (I think it kinda distracts from the gorgeous scenery), but isn’t it AMAZING?! There’s another equally amazing video here that you should really watch too. 🙂

Alright, now for the tutorial. This technique is great for lots of things, like envelope art, ATCs, or just a painting on watercolor paper, but I think it would look especially nice on a canvas. (I used a piece of white cardboard, though, if you’re wondering.)

1. You’ll need a few different colors of acrylic paint that go together well, plus white and black. I used pink, a few different shades of purple, and a dark indigo.

Paint the outer ring with your darkest color. Don’t worry if it gets a little messy, like so. 😉

art 1 (1280x974)

2. Blend a ring of the next darkest color (like dark purple) into the outer ring you just made, overlapping the paint colors so they blend.

art 2 (1280x960)

3. Now just keep adding new rings of color, making a gradient from dark to light. Use white for the very center. Tip: Blending works a lot better if the paint is still wet, so try to do these rings all at once instead of letting them dry between circles.

Ahh, it’s looking so pretty, isn’t it?

art 3 (1280x973)

4. Add some long black blobs for islands to the bottom third of the picture, like so.

art 4 (1280x960)

5. The islands kinda look like they’re floating, so we need to anchor them. Use your ugliest brush with coarse or frazzled bristles to paint some white streaks under the islands and create the illusion of water. Tip: Don’t use much paint and make sure your brush is nice and dry to create perfectly imperfect streaks.

art 5 (1280x979)

6.  The islands still need shadows to cement them into the picture. Paint some black streaks right under the islands to make their dark reflections. (Wow, that sounds scary. XD )

art 6 (1280x960)

7. This is probably the hardest part: painting the tree. If you’re good at drawing trees, go right ahead and start painting, but if you’re not the best, like me, it might help to practice a few on a scrap piece of paper. My tree didn’t turn out quite as good as I had hoped, but you know what – that’s okay! You can always make a new and improved picture next time. 🙂 It also helps to look at some pictures of trees for inspiration.

Tip: I’ve found that it makes the branches look more realistic if they’re wider where they join the main branch and then taper to a point.

I also made a bumpy line for trees on the second island. 🙂

art 7 (1280x929)

8. The stars are the finishing touch. Use your coarse paintbrush to splatter white paint all over your picture. Actually I should have done this part before I painted the islands, but I just painted over the black silhouettes and it turned out fine. 😉

Tip: It’s easier to splatter the white paint if you thin it with just a bit of water. Then tap the paintbrush handle on your finger to flick paint across the paper. If I do this again I think I’ll make slightly fewer stars because it can get overwhelming.

I also like to make a some twinkling stars by painting small crosses over a few of the dots.

art 9 (1280x960)

Ta-daa! And there you have a beautiful galaxy-moonset-silhouette-ish picture. 😀

galaxy silhouette 1 (800x600).jpg

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, my friends! Do you think you’ll give it a try? If you do, I’d love to see your artwork! Click here to see how to submit in your artwork to the Art Lab blog and help us fill our gallery.

Thanks for reading, dears!

***Allison***

66 thoughts on “Art Lab, Episode 26”

  1. That’s SO pretty! I must try it! Well, I can’t right now because I’m on the other side of the world from my house. 😛

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  2. Oh so pretty! (That looks familiar… XD) Your artwork is beautiful. 🙂 Speaking of which, your letter is going in the mail tomorrow! Unfortunately, my art skills are nowhere near yours so you’ll just have to cringe throughout the whole letter. XD

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        1. Aww yeah, that always happens to me too. I’m like, “But LOOK, can’t you see where I messed up here and here, and boy I should really fix this part…” and everyone’s like, “What on earth are you talking about? It looks great!” XD Heh heh. *Sigh* Artist’s problems, right? 😛

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    1. Wow, thank you so much! Well I didn’t copy anything, but I was inspired by the video in the post as well as some pictures I’ve seen on Pinterest with the concentric circle background. 🙂 Thank you so much!

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  8. You make it look so easy! It’s stunning though. Totally beautiful. I love the colours: deep blues, purples, the black silhouette of a stark tree, the bright-eyed stars. You can tell I’m more of a writer than an artist!

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      1. It was just so amazing to watch! I was just in awe! 🙂
        It looks super fun to do too, though I’m not sure I could do it up to my standards after watching that, hehe!

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  13. That is so cool, Allison! I love it so much! I never really paint, so I don’t know if I’ll ever try it, but I’d really like to! 🙂 Oh, and Happy Fourth of July!!
    ~Christian Homeschooler
    P.S. I have some exciting news which I can’t wait to share in an email that I will hopefully write to you soon. But if you want a hint, then you can read my latest post on my blog-it may give it away. 😉

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    1. Wow, thanks so much! I’m so glad you like it!
      Happy 4th to you too!
      P. S. OOOOOOHH now I’m really curious. XD I’ll definitely check out your post and I’ll look forward to your email!

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  16. Wow, this was so interesting and neat and the picture the YouTuber made is amazing! Your picture was amazing too, you have such talent! 😀

    I think I might have to try this sometime! 😉

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  23. Hi Allison! Do you mind if I reblog this for one of my craft series? I will just put a link to this post, then show the ATC that I made.
    Please let me know if this is OK!
    Have a great day!
    -Hannah

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