Use watercolors and a black watercolor resist medium to create colorful winter tree art. Make this gorgeous winter tree painting today!
Painting winter tree silhouette art using watercolors and a black resist medium is a fun winter tree art project idea for kids and adults. Invite children of all ages to paint a colorful winter tree silhouette with watercolors at home or in the classroom. This step-by-step winter tree painting idea is perfect for kids from toddlers, to preschoolers and kindergarteners, to teens.
Color mixing and the science of resist mediums are educational STEAM activities for kids that make learning fun at home or in the classroom. And, this colorful winter tree silhouette watercolor art project provides a wealth of learning opportunities for children and adults of all ages. Working with resist mediums and watercolor paints is a process-oriented way to practice working with watercolor paints and different color blending techniques. You may also enjoy this list of winter art projects and painting ideas for kids.
How to Make A Winter Tree Silhouette with a Black Resist Medium
Creating winter tree silhouette art with watercolors and a black resist medium is a fun and easy art project idea, and STEAM activity, for kids and adults. First, choose the type of resist medium that you will use to draw your winter tree silhouette–black crayon, black oil pastel, or black glue–scroll down for the simple instructions to make it.
If you choose to make and use black glue, we recommend creating your winter tree silhouette art over two days. On the first day, invite artists of all ages to use black glue to draw a winter tree on watercolor paper or heavyweight cardstock. Then paint over and around the winter tree with watercolors on the second, and this will give the black glue the time it needs to dry.
Using black glue as the watercolor resist medium to make a winter tree silhouette also allows children the opportunity to create two different types of winter art. Children can make winter tree art on the first day. And, on the second, a color-filled winter tree silhouette watercolor painting.
Working on this winter watercolor art project over two days also allows homeschoolers to spend more time learning with this fun winter STEAM activity for kids. It also allows parents and teachers to focus on one art technique at a time–which makes it a lot easier to complete successfully.
Scroll down to see the winter tree art supply list and the step-by-step instructions for this winter art painting idea, including the directions to make black glue.
Related: Snowy Alpine Tree Watercolor Resist Art
Winter Tree Art Project Supplies
You will notice that the materials on this list have several options available. Use the art supplies on hand, or try something new. The recipe for black glue is in the step-by-step instructions below.
- White glue and black acrylic paint, OR, black oil pastel, OR, black crayon
- Watercolor paper or cardstock (heavyweight works best)
- Stockmar watercolors OR watercolor paint pallet OR liquid watercolors
- 3/4 – 1 1/2 inch flat wash watercolor brush OR flat wash watercolor paintbrush set
- FREE Winter Tree Art Template (Optional)
As you can see, several different types of art supplies will work to make colorful winter tree art. First, make black glue with white glue and black acrylic paint with the easy step-by-step instructions included below. Or, use black oil pastel or crayon to draw a winter tree silhouette. Next, use your favorite watercolor paints and a paintbrush to finish your winter tree art project. Scroll down for the complete DIY details.
Related: The Best Art Supplies for Kids
Winter Tree Silhouette Art Project Step by Step Directions
First, decide which black resist medium you will use to make this winter tree art project; black glue, black oil pastel, or black crayon. My daughter demonstrates how to use black glue as the resist medium for the winter tree silhouettes in the photos and the winter tree art video tutorial. And, you can also see her demonstrate how to use a flat wash watercolor brush, and watch her beautiful watercolor paint blending techniques, in the video that follows these instructions.
Related: Art & Science: Experiment with Watercolor Resist Mediums
Step 1 – Make Black Glue (optional)
Skip this first step if you are using black oil pastel or crayon to draw winter tree silhouettes. Instead, scroll down and start this winter tree art idea with Step 2.
How to make Black Glue:
Making black glue is simple and does not need to be measured–simply mix white glue with black acrylic paint to make black glue. We make our black glue by adding both ingredients to an old small bottle of white glue. Add black acrylic paint and a little more white glue if needed, and shake it up to mix it. Then squeeze it out to use.
Note: You do not need to make “black glue” look black. Because white glue dries clear, black glue will often appear grey until completely dry. And, a little black acrylic paint goes a long way–so you don’t need much. My daughter never measures, and it always turns out fine. We are constantly adding a mixture of white glue and black acrylic paint to our “black glue bottle” for all of the black glue art projects we create.
Step 2 – Print and Trace, or Draw Winter Tree Silhouette
Download and print the winter tree clipart on heavyweight cardstock. Or, draw a winter tree with black oil pastel, black crayon, or black glue on watercolor paper or heavyweight cardstock.
If you are drawing your own winter tree for this winter silhouette art project, you are welcome to use a drawing pencil to draw your winter tree before tracing over it with a black crayon, black oil pastel, or black glue to create your winter tree silhouette art.
However, please note that black glue needs to dry overnight, black oil pastel works best when it has a few hours to set, and black crayon trees can be painted over right away. Make sure the black resist medium you choose has enough time to set before moving on to the next step in this winter tree art project. But, whatever you do, don’t rush black glue–it will not resist watercolor paint unless it is completely dry. Learn more about working with a black resist medium in watercolor rose art.
Step 3 – Paint Winter Tree Art with Watercolors
Invite children to use watercolors to paint the winter trees they made with a black resist medium. Please encourage them to use and paint with any color they desire as a fun way to learn about and experience color.
Working with watercolors is a process-oriented way for children to learn about color mixing and blending colors to create different shades and tones in their artwork. Start with wet-on-wet watercolor painting if your children have never worked with watercolors.
Related: Heart Art Projects
Winter Tree Silhouette Painting Idea Video Tutorial
Play the video below to see my daughter at work on the winter tree painting pictured in this post. First, she beautifully shows how to draw a winter tree with black glue–at super speed with a bit of help from my editing-lol! Next, you can see her demonstrate how to use a flat wash watercolor brush correctly and watch her creative color blending and watercolor painting techniques.
Related: Watercolor Surprise Heart Art Painting Ideas
More Watercolor Resist Art Projects for Kids
Head on over to have a look at all of the other watercolor black glue resist art projects we have created for even more black glue and watercolor paint fun!
- Black Glue Rose Watercolor Resist Art Project
- Starfish Black Glue Watercolor Art Project
- Under the Sea Black Glue Art Projects
- Fall Leaves Black Glue Watercolor Resist Art
Silhouette Winter Tree Painting Idea
This colorful winter tree silhouette watercolor art project is also a great winter STEAM activity for children of all ages. It provides a wealth of learning opportunities for kids from toddlers to preschoolers and kindergarteners to teens (and adults, too!). For this reason, we like to split this winter tree painting idea into two parts.
Spend the first day drawing and tracing winter tree silhouettes with children at home or in the classroom. And, on the second day, invite children to paint colorful winter tree silhouettes to give children plenty of time to experience each type of watercolor art method or process.
We hope you enjoy painting winter trees as much as we do! You may also enjoy this fantastic collection of winter art projects and painting ideas.
And have a look at this cute collection of Valentine’s Day art projects. Learn more about Rhythms of Play HERE!
More Art Projects for Kids (and Adults, too!)
- Easter Art Ideas for Kids
- The Best Fall Art Projects for Kids
- Halloween Art Projects Kids LOVE!
- Wet-on-Wet Watercolor Painting for Kids
- Best Christmas Art Projects for Kids
Note: This post was first published on January 18, 2018.
What a great effect! I’ve not tried making black glue before. I’ll give it a try.
Yay! I’m so glad you’ve been inspired to try black glue resist art! It’s really easy to make, the problem I see more often than not is that people think they need to make the glue look black and end up using too much acrylic paint, and this can add black to your watercolor painting if you use a lot of water. A little black acrylic paint in a white glue bottle, well shaken, goes a long way! Enjoy!