Tis the season for pumpkins, costumes, scary makeup and scarecrows. Pumpkins are my favorite part of that, so today, I chose to paint just that.

We painted a beach sunset a few months ago for summer. Well, because I wasn’t ready to let go of summer. I’m not  embracing the cold weather now, but I’m more open to the idea, ha.

So, grab your supplies and some friends and meet me at step 1 below!

 

Mini pumpkin painting supplies

• paint brushes
• paint palette
• water cup
• paper towels
• mini canvas
• acrylic paint
  • light green
  • dark gree
  • navy blue
  • medium blue
  • brown
  • orange

 

Step 1: paint set up

Drop a few blobs of paint on your palette.

 

Step 2: paint the base and pumpkin outline

I’m combining a few steps into one because it’s all prep.

2a: Paint the top 3/4s of the canvas navy blue. Mix in some medium blue here and there. Paint horizontally for the sky. Let it dry.

2b: Now we’ll paint the grass. Paint the bottom 1/4 of the canvas dark green. Mix in some light green. Let it dry.

2c: Now the fun part: the pumpkin. Paint an orange oval in the space slightly off center of the canvas. This is going to be the center of the pumpkin.

2d: Now paint half an oval on each side of the original oval.

2e: Repeat step 2d on each sides of the half circles you just painted. Let it dry.

 

Step 3: paint the pumpkin

Fill in the lines you just painted with orange paint. Let it dry.

 

Step 4: paint the highlights

Before your paint dries, get a very small dab of white paint and paint over the orange. Don’t cover all of the orange though.

Think about where the light would hit the pumpkin and paint in those places. If you’re unsure, look at illustrations of pumpkins and pay attention to the lighting and shadows. I say illustrations, and not photos, because the lighting is more exaggerated. It’s easier to noticed the differences.

Let it dry.

 

Step 5: paint the shadows

Remember where the original outlines were? Use those lines as a guide and paint the top and bottom of them brown. Let it dry.

 

Step 6: paint the stem

Paint a stem on your pumpkin.

Tip: stems are far more exciting when they twist to the side.

 

Step 7: paint the stars

Get a small dab of white paint on your smallest brush and paint dots on top of the blue sky. Try to spread them out and vary the sizing.

 

Now you can put your pumpkin painting on a mini easel and display it until it snows, or year around. Whatever you like!

Hope you enjoyed this one! Let me know what you think and what you’d like to see painted. Is anyone interested in some video?

Happy crafting!