Whimsical Bear Portraits Make Perfect Party Decor!
As you may realize, I have been delving into drawing and painting and sketchbooking and art journaling more than actual crafts this past year, but that does not mean that our house is suddenly lacking festive decorations, infact just the opposite. Because dear friends, brightly colored or whimsical paintings, whether on paper or in my case milk cartons and boxes make really wonderful party decor, come on by and take a look! These fun bear portraits are now part of my kitchen gallery shelves display, and I even taped a few to boxes so they can stand up. They would make amazing gift tags (they work up quickly, and the quicker the better!) or adorable greating cards, or once you get the hang of it, why not a huge portrait on your front door for Purim? Yes, Purim is coming up in a week, yikes, and a painting session to create some whimsical bears is certainly in order! Give your bears some added accessories, like the ones I’ve shown or maybe even a crown, or a birthday cake or a little bird? To give credit where credit is due, this idea is from Cottonwood Artistry, on instagram here, who actually posted an amazing how-to video on a private Facebook group, and I’m hoping she’ll share it with the world, in which case I’ll let you know! Okay, lets take a closer look……
- watercolor or mixed media paper
- acrylic paint
- a black permanent marker
- paint pens: I used pink, white and gold
How To: This isn’t my story to tell, but I think you can basically figure it out by looking closely? The technique used is called reductive painting, wherein you define the shape by painting around it! And in this case, yes, I drew the shape first with a black marker, loosely, and then painted around it. I added all the head toppers after I’d painted the background, using a paint marker and black pen, but if you are making large portraits, I’d suggest planning for this and using the background as part of your apple, for example.
Enjoy, painting is wonderful!
