Fall Inspired Birch Trees Canvas Art

3 Materials
$5
1 Hour
Easy

Autumnal tones of honey gold, bronzy russet and pumpkin spice are one of nature’s most perfect color harmonies.


I was recently inspired by some wall décor I saw online, so I decided to make my own versions to use for fall. This tutorial is one of two canvases I created. See the other one here.


I already had all the paint and glitter, so my only cost for these two projects was for the canvases.


MATERIALS

Stretch canvas in size of choice (mine was 12" x 12")

Paint

Small Brushes – 1", 1/4", scroller, fan brush and small round stencil brush

Gold Glitter

Inspiration Art

HOW-TO

Background. For the canvas with the birch tree scene depicted in my inspiration art, I first painted the background with a Valspar color sample of a light gray with a tinge of green in it using a 1" brush.

Background painted with leftover paint sample

Next I added in some random blobs of off-white acrylic paint with a 1/4" brush to give the background some interest. 

Layering and blending background colors

On the bottom third(ish) of the canvas, I layered some off-white, tan and brown to create the ground area. I also added a few dabs of off-white on the top portion where the “leaves” would be falling.

I spritzed some water over the canvas to blend the colors with a fan brush, and then lightly brushed it vertically across the surface to soften them even more. The idea was to get the colors in the right area without having a hard line between them. 

Adding the ground area

The next step was adding in some of the more reflective colors on the bottom, which I did by randomly adding soft touches of General Finishes Pearl Effects (Burnished, Bronze and Tawny) with a fan brush. You could also use any kind of acrylic craft paint, preferably something metallic to get the effect shown here.

Trees. To add in the tree bases, I used some off-white and swiped various sized lines vertically, starting the narrower ones higher up from the bottom as if they were further away from the viewer.

Add tree shapes

I added a little bit of General Finishes Extender to some Bronze Pearl Effects, then used a scroller brush to create the limbs and darker bark areas. 

Creating the birch trees

Leaves. Next the leaves were added using the scroller brush and some GF Burnished Pearl Effects. I didn’t really try to make leaf shapes, just some gold blobs. I came back with some of the darker Bronze Pearl Effects to create some depth to the color. 

Add limbs and leaves

Finally, I used the small stencil brush dipped in the Burnished gold to soften the edges of the tree bases with a dabbing motion, which gave the ground area a little shimmer. While the paint was still wet, I sprinked a bit of gold glitter.

There you go — an easy piece of art that would look great among your other fall décor items! 

Resources for this project:
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Lori Haught Harper
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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Frequently asked questions
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  3 questions
  • Caroline O'Hare Caroline O'Hare on Nov 16, 2019

    What is a scrolled brush please? Your art looks lovely btw.

  • Skip Skip on Nov 16, 2019

    What about something like this for Christmas?

  • RC Leach RC Leach on Dec 03, 2019

    Hi Lori, I love your painting. Were you inspired by Bob Ross? Whatever the inspiration, it was well placed, when it landed in your mind and soul! Well done!

    R.C.Leach

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