Place image onto a canvas with charcoal side down. Place your traced image whatever position you like.
Did You Know You Can Trace Your Canvas? It’s Easy and I’ll Show You How!
I love, love, love Summer! I’ve just been eating up this last part of Summer. Today is really the first day that I feel ready for Fall. We’ve had a ton of rain recently and it I feel like a nap, and y’all I’m not really a napper. All of this to say I am so ready for the 2021 Fall Ball Painting Extravaganza that starts this Sunday! It’s going to be sooooo much fun. One of the things we do to get prepared is trace the canvas. Today I’m going to show you how to trace the pumpkin painting.
Remember, you don’t have to be an artist to join the Fall Ball. I teach you both paintings step-by-step! This is FUN art y’all, not fine art. You will get a complete supply list and tracer for both paintings. Plus, I have a ton of prizes to give away.
Supplies for Canvas Tracing
Make sure to get a 16 x 20 canvas, and really it doesn’t have to be that specific size, you can choose whatever size canvas you want. I use carbon paper to trace the design directly on the canvas. You can get this on Amazon or at your local craft store. The printed tracer, if you don’t have a printer you can freehand or print it at a local office supply store. And lastly a pencil or pen.
If you’re if you’re a painter, if you’re skilled painter, you can just wing it and do it freehand with me. However, for those people that are really nervous, I’m having you trace the pumpkin first, just because it can just take out some of that anxiety. First you are going to want to put your tracer together like a puzzle and tape it, you can use regular scotch tape for this. Then place your carbon paper on your canvas and your tracer on top. Grab your pen or pencil and just trace it! That’s it!
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Supplies
Paper (computer paper works best if you don’t have tracing paper)
Selected coloring tools (paint, color pencils)
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Select image from destination of choice (i.e., Instagram, Pinterest, google).
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Step 2: Initial Tracing
Trace image on a piece of white paper (computer paper works best).
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Once happy with image cover back with a well layer of charcoal (pencil shading).
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If needed, you can draw heavier lines on the canvas trace. This may help you when coloring in later or a lighter trace might make it easier to make the lines not visible in the final product without heavy layers of color.
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Color in you canvas with choice of paint or artistic tools this is your final product and is ready to be put up.
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How to Trace and Paint Effectively
If you’ve been around for a while, you know I’ve created my Trace and Paint books to help you practice your watercolor technique without the stress of drawing or sketching before you paint. I get asked how to use these books or why they’re helpful in your art practice.
What is tracing, and how can you start?
When you’re practicing your watercolor, you might not know where to start or what to paint. And if you do decide what to paint, sketching it out or finding reference images or materials to get you started can be hard. That’s why the Trace and Paint books create the perfect tool to get you straight to painting. You’re provided with many different botanical or nature-related motifs, and you can start working on your brush strokes, color mixing, and layering without worrying about what to paint!
Trace and Paint watercolor books take the stress out of painting
There are a couple of different methods you can use to trace the motifs before painting them, and all of them require a different level of supplies and time.
The first way you can use these books is by simply tracing directly onto your watercolor paper. This method requires the least amount of tools because you only use your book, paper, and pencil. Simply place your paper onto the motif in the book you want to paint, and push it down slightly to see the motif through the paper. And there you have it.
Use a lightbox
If your paper is too thick, you may not be able to see the motif enough to trace it. This is where a lightbox would come in handy. The lightbox creates a light source under the motif allowing it to shine through your paper and making it easy to trace. In a pinch, I’ve put up my motif to a window pane and used natural light to trace something, but this isn’t super ideal because it’s not very comfortable. If you have an iPad or tablet, you could also try and use that as your own “lightbox”.
Tracing paper is another way to transfer your drawing onto your watercolor paper. Tracing paper is a thin paper that helps you transfer your image onto your canvas. You would place the motif on top of the transfer paper, and your watercolor paper would be at the very bottom. Then you would trace over the entire motif, which would apply the design to your watercolor paper and have it ready to paint. Transfer paper is fairly inexpensive and is really easy to use. If you can get your hands on it, this method is very user-friendly.
These are a couple of ways to trace and paint effectively, and I hope you find them all useful! If you want to take the stress out of drawing or choosing what to paint, I highly suggest you try my Trace and Paint books!
Which method will you use first?
