Rainbow Forest

Painted by Paisley Butterfly. Photo taken by Paisley Butterfly

It has been awhile since Kit and I have done an art project 

and today seemed to be the perfect day to do one together :) 

Painted by Kit. Photo taken by Kit

All you need:

• Glue
• Macaroni, buttons, or anything else you can use for leaves
• Masking Tape
• Paper - not in pic
• Paint 
• Paint brushes - not in pic
• Paper towels - not in pic
• Water in containers

First, we ripped our masking tape into strips long enough to extend beyond the paper. We used regular printer paper. Press the tape down to remove any air bubbles and to create a seal to prevent the paint from seeping under. 

Photo taken by Paisley Butterfly

Photo taken by Kit

The tape will create the outline of the trees. There is no method here, no right or wrong.  




Once you are satisfied with the tape layout, it's time to paint! We used the watercolor tablets. They are super easy clean up, and you can use a sponge or paper towel or paint brush to apply, giving different textures. Be careful not to use too much water -- we had to throw one piece of paper out because Kit was a bit overzealous and ripped a hole in his forest -- use just enough liquid to pick up the paint. Feel free to experiment with different materials: markers, crayons, chalk, etc.

Photo taken by Paisley Butterfly

Layer the colors on top of each other to create dimension. Less water will allow for bolder color, and layering the color will help fill in the white space. There are no rules for colors or placement of color. The idea is to use one's imagination! I chose to do a ground and sky background. Kit chose to do more sky than ground. Both are beautiful! 

Photo taken by Kit

While the paint was drying, we decided to paint macaroni noodles to use as leaves. All we did was pull a little bit of paint into the paint brushes and tap the brush on the noodles. By the time we are finished with this task, the paint on the paper is dry...meaning its time to remove the tape! Kit could not wait for this part :) 

Since we used basic printer paper, I pulled the tape off. Go slow and steady, keeping the tape that is being pulled almost doubled over the tape that is still attached. I used my fingers to hold the paper down, while I pulled the tape, because it does pull some of the paper off with it when removed.One of the really cool things about the tape removing a little of the paper is that it created a rough edge to the trees; another added texture :) 

Using glue, I placed dots where we wanted our leaves, then we placed the macaroni noodles in the glue. I ran out of painted macaroni for mine, and glued unpainted noodles on. Then I took the paint brush and just stippled the macaroni, letting the paint get on the paper to add to the leaf detail...

Kit loves his Rainbow Forest! And is incredibly proud of the work he did :) 

I think this is my favorite forest, too!