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Today’s tutorial is a little bit different because it includes several short instructional videos. Use them as opportunities to learn handy painting techniques! With the help of the videos, anyone can create this stunning illustration.
To me, autumn means cozy focus, warm colors, and a sense of simple joy. Today’s tutorial is one I savored from start to finish, and I hope you’ll enjoy it, too. In it, you’ll create a hand-painted pumpkin filled with leaves and flourishes that you can turn into a greeting card, mail art, or a lovely autumn display for your home.
You’ll need a tidy little collection of supplies in order to create this illustration. They include:
Print the Autumn Pumpkin Template on light-colored paper, then use a light box or a sunny window to trace the design onto your blank card.
Note that if you don’t have a printer, you can always trace the design over your tablet or computer screen. Alternatively, free-hand draw it.
Next, use your light yellow-brown, deep purple-brown, and vibrant red watercolors to paint several lobed leaves throughout the pumpkin. As you’ll see in the video below, I like to use my light box to help me position those leaves correctly:
Then, use the deep purple-brown and a very dark brown (almost black) to paint another set of lobed leaves, as shown below.
Once you’re finished, your pumpkin will look something like this:
Now, use your light green tone to paint sprigs of leaves. Before the green paint dries, blend in some deep purple-brown and red to give the leaves a warm autumn look.
When you finish, you’ll have several multi-toned leaves.
Next, use your earthy green tone to fill in the stem. Use the purple-brown tone to add some contrast and visual interest.
If you’re also using Greenleaf & Blueberry colors, here’s a helpful hint that I learned in one of our coffee dates: use the Italian Green Earth paint tube. Straight out of the tube, the color looks opaque and saturated without a lot of waiting and mixing.
Now that we’ve mostly painted large elements, you’ll focus on filling in the space with smaller designs. Begin with acorns, which you’ll paint using a light yellow-brown and a dark purple-brown.
Next, use your pointed pen to paint several small, dark purple-brown leaves.
When you finish, the pumpkin should look much fuller than before.
Now, use your pointed pen and gold watercolor to add various embellishments like leaves, sprigs, and dots.
Once you finish adding those embellishments, use your pointed pen to draw directly over the stem and leaves with gold watercolor.
Then, admire your handiwork!
Because I can never quite leave well enough alone, I decided to enhance my pumpkin with some flourishes. If you want to do this, too, go ahead and use your pencil to draft the flourishes’ positions.
Then, use a pointed pen and the watercolor calligraphy technique to draw over those flourishes with your gold watercolor.
I hope that you enjoyed learning how to make this autumn pumpkin illustration! For those of us who are working through the new Beginner’s Modern Calligraphy Online Course, this project offers a bit of a palette cleanser and some creative cross-training. If you try it out, please share what you make! I love seeing your work on Discord or Instagram.
Thanks so much for reading, and happy creating!
Warmly,
*This post contains affiliate links to Amazon
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