Step-by-step
Step 1
To design this pastel tree you’ll need the edding acrylic marker set in pastel colours. This set contains five edding 5100 acrylic markers (medium) in pastel yellow, classy mauve, pastel blue, pastel green and anthracite. For the background you’ll need edding 5200 permanent spray in pastel rose and pastel yellow. Print out the template and photocopy it to the desired size if necessary. You can see everything you need at a glance in our photo.
Step 2
Before you start, set up your canvas outdoors or in a well-ventilated room. Cover your working area carefully with film. In our Spray basics section you'll find our handy tips on how to achieve the perfect spraying technique. First, spray-paint the upper half of the canvas with edding permanent spray in pastel rose. Turn the canvas upside down and spray-paint the other half in pastel yellow. Make sure the colours overlap in the middle to achieve a nice gradient.
Step 3
Leave the canvas to dry thoroughly. This is how it should look.
Step 4
Place the motif behind the canvas. Art canvases usually come with small wooden wedges, which can be inserted at the back to hold the template firmly in place and prevent it slipping. Place a light source behind both canvas and template, then trace the template.
Step 5
Before you begin, activate your acrylic marker as follows: shake the marker with the cap still on until you hear the mixing balls start to rattle inside. Next, carefully pump the nib up and down on a separate piece of paper until ink appears in the nib. Start by filling in the canopy segments using the acrylic marker medium in classy mauve.
Step 6
After each segment, go over the canopy with a wet brush. Dab on the acrylic colour to achieve that leaf-like texture. Then leave it to dry.
Step 7
Now repeat using the acrylic marker medium in pastel blue. Try to overlap parts of the classy mauve segments to make the trunk of your tree look even fuller. Once you’ve done that, touch up the pastel blue parts with a wet brush, as before.
Step 8
To achieve an even better texture, you can use kitchen towel and dab it on the blue areas. This will also reveal some of the underlying canopy.
Step 9
Now it’s time to paint the tree’s surroundings: grab the acrylic marker medium in pastel green and draw a rough meadow at the bottom of the painting. Now fill in the trunk, branches and the silhouettes of the people using your acrylic marker medium in anthracite.
Step 10
Give your painting a final touch and, where the branches and canopy meet, add small shadows to the tree in anthracite. As you fill in the trunk, you‘ll cover up some of the canopy: re-add it using classy mauve and pastel blue to overlap some of the trunk and branches. Introduce some nice reflections of light by adding fine contours to the trunk and branches in pastel yellow.
Products and materials
Other materials
- Art canvas, A3 size
- Pastel tree template
- Masking film
- Gloves and breathing mask for spraying (optional)
- A few sheets of kitchen towel
- A soft pencil
- Paintbrush
- Glass of water
Video
Additional images
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