Q-tip Flower Painting

I love spring. My perennials are blooming in the backyard, the weather is getting warmer, and daylight lasts longer. It makes me so happy! To me, this painting invokes a similar feeling of happiness that spring brings. The bright colors are lovely and q-tips make painting the flowers super fast and easy!

Materials:

• Canvas panel (any size works, but I used 5x7)

• Small foam brush (1 inch)

• Paint brush (preferably with a thinner tip for grass and stems)

• Acrylic paint (I just use the cheap stuff; you'll need green, blue, and a few colors for the flowers you will paint)

• Other painting supplies: paint palette, newspaper, water cup, paper towel, etc.

Instructions:

After you've prepared your paint, use the foam brush to start dabbing blue onto the top (maybe 2/3) of the canvas. It doesn't need to be completely solid, white spots are fine.

Clean the foam brush, dry, then dab green onto the remaining part of canvas that hasn't been painted yet. This will need to be a solid color, so keep painting until the bottom is solid green. Clean foam brush, then put away.

Use the paint brush and green paint to make blades of grass at the top of the green. Make these as thin as possible. Then, use the same technique to paint stems for your flowers.

After you've made the flower stems, use a q-tip to add the flower blossoms. Do this by dipping the q-tip lightly into the paint, then dabbing it onto the canvas where the blossoms should be. Don't forget to get a clean q-tip if you want to switch colors!

When you finish with the flowers, you may want to add in some more grass, or some clouds, or trees. Now is a great time to do that! The q-tip technique would work great for painting trees too.

Be sure to let your painting dry completely before moving it!