Leaf Dances

Wet-on-wet watercolor and crayon techniques help capture the motion of autumn's falling leaves.

• 1.

  Identify fallen, colorful autumn leaves. Use a field guide to select those that are safe to pick up and collect.

• 2.

  Cover your work area with recycled newspaper. Use Crayola® Washable Watercolors and Paint Brushes to paint the underside of a leaf. While it is still wet, press the leaf onto light-colored construction paper, applying even pressure to all parts. Lift the leaf carefully.

• 3.

  Repeat this process with several leaves, using different colors of watercolor. Overlap some of the leaf prints to create the effect of motion.

• 4.

  For added color, try a wet-on-wet watercolor technique. With your brush, drop color onto still-wet portions of your painting. Control the direction of the spreading color by lifting and tipping your painting.

• 5.

  After the leaf prints dry completely, use Crayola Construction Paper Crayons to accentuate portions of the leaves. Use partial outlines near the prints' edges, trying varying colors and pressures.

Benefits

• Children identify trees by their leaves and observe changes in leaf color in autumn.
• Students create leaf prints from fallen leaves to interpret motion visually, and use wet-on-wet watercolor and crayon techniques to enhance colors.

Adaptations

• Use Crayola Crayons to create an under-drawing before making the leaf print. Crayon will resist the paint, so use a light crayon with darker watercolors. The under-drawing could have a fall theme, or be used to identify a particular tree.
• Make a series of leaf prints, varying the colors to represent different seasons. Use light greens for spring, dark greens for summer, and reds and oranges for fall.
• Make crayon rubbings with different leaves.
• Younger students and those with special needs may benefit from short practice sessions experimenting with watercolor printing and wet-on-wet techniques before creating final artwork. Provide leaves and plenty of paper for experimentation.