Easy painting lesson on painting trumpet vine flowers, one stroke at a time. Step by step acrylic paint tutorial
How to Paint Easy Leaves & Vines
After I posted the tray ceiling painting the other day, thousands upon thousands of emails poured in, wanting to know how to paint those red & gold leaves.
Okay, maybe it was hundreds.
Alright, nobody actually wrote an email and asked how to paint them but I’m sure it’s just because they were afraid that they’d have to climb a ladder a zillion times and they didn’t want a bigger booty.
I’m here to tell you that these simple leaves can be painted anywhere. A wall, a table . . . maybe even a curtain? Why not? All you need is two colors of paint and a brush or two.
Here’s the simple painting tutorial –
Start with a simple ‘S’ scroll on it’s side.
See what I mean? Just a little ‘s’.
Next, add your leaves with gold paint. Gold as in yellow, not gold as in metallic.
Although that’d be really pretty too but you get more shading with regular yellow-gold.
Now add some red accents – either on the tip or the base.
I’ll admit, this scared me a bit when I first tried it on the ceiling. But the more leaves I accented – and then stepped back to take a look – the more I liked it.
It doesn’t take a ton of red to make an impact.
Now, here’s where it gets even scarier, but you gotta just trust yourself and go for it. You’re gonna connect the leaves to the vine – loosely, curvy, and RANDOMLY.
That’s the hard part, folks. Being random. The goal is just to connect the vein of the leave to the vine.
Actually, now that I think about it, you don’t have to do all the extra vein curlicues. You could just take the vein straight to the vine.
But that’d be kinda boring, dontcha think?
Just give it a try – with the red and the curlicues. Then stand back and look at your painting from a few feet away.
Tell me it isn’t cute.
Now, you don’t have to just use ‘S’ scrolls.
You can also start with a ‘C’.
(sorry. I couldn’t resist.)
Same thing. Scroll, then leaves, then curlicues.
Only this was just one color. One!
Simple, quick, and will work with absolutely any color.
If you aren’t comfortable with drawing your own scrolls and placing the leaves, I made patterns for you – Leaves and Vine Patterns. You can download them as PDF docs via Google, then enlarge them to the size you want.
But seriously, try it freehand first. I think you’ll surprise yourself.
Comments
- Diane says February 12, 2016 at 10:38 pm
Hi Colleen! So glad I found your quick, easy and oh-so-pretty leafy vine tutorial. I’m just learning, this looks super-easy, so here I go to the craft room to give it a go! Thanks so much.
Just found this tutorial, very simple, versatile, easy, thank you for the process breakdown!
- Colleen says August 8, 2023 at 9:07 am
Get Started painting Trumpet Vine
1.Draw on your design.
2. Double load your #12 flat brush with mostly Tangelo orange then on one corner of your brush add some of the Burgundy color.
3. Stroke on the bottom of the petal keeping the Burgundy on the outside edge.
4. Reload your brush and do the upper petal lapping over the orange.
5. Fill in the base of the flower with Tangelo orange.
Details
6 .With the edge of the brush and Burgundy loaded on it, shadow along the top of the petal where the calyx will attach. (see video for clarification)
7. With the tiniest touch of burgundy mixed with orange, use the chisel edge of the brush to pull in some lines for texture. I also sometimes do this with a touch of yellow, depends on my mood.
Paint the Trumpet Vine Calyx
8. Add the calyx with your # 4 brush and a double load of the Evergreen and the Foliage green. Stroke on 3, they look like an upside down leaf.
9. You can use the chisel edge of your #4 brush or a script liner to stroke on your stem.
10. Add leaves and some vines and you have your gorgeous Trumpet Vine!
