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Fall leaves mixed media artwork

September 21, 2017 by Katie 23 Comments

This post may contain affiliate ads at no cost to you. See my disclosures for more information.

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In my opinion, the reds, oranges, yellows, and golds of fall are the most beautiful colors on earth. I absolutely love fall leaves!

This mixed media art project celebrates the arrival of fall with an image of gorgeous leaves set against the shadow of a tree trunk.

The rich colors of the fall leaves are created with solid tempera paints. This background is then overlaid with tree branches formed from cut paper. This is a wonderful fall art project for children of all ages.

Note: For more AWESOME art activities, see my Arts and Crafts for Kids page.

Fall leaves mixed media artwork using Kwik Stix solid tempera paints | Fall art project for kids | Fall leaves art || Gift of Curiosity

Disclaimer: I was compensated for writing this post. All opinions and ideas are my own. 

How to create fall leaves mixed media artwork

To get the rich colors for our fall leaves artwork, we used Kwik Stix solid tempera paints. Kwik Stix give rich, beautiful colors like tempera paints without any of the mess, because Kwik Stix do not require any water or brushes. And best of all, Kwik Stix paints dry super fast – in just 90 seconds!

I grabbed several fall colors from our Kwik Stix collection along with a sheet of thick paper.

Fall leaves mixed media artwork using Kwik Stix solid tempera paints | Fall art project for kids | Fall leaves art || Gift of Curiosity

We filled in the entire sheet of paper with fall colors. You can draw leaves, lines, or squiggles. Just put as much color on the paper as you can.

Fall leaves mixed media artwork using Kwik Stix solid tempera paints | Fall art project for kids | Fall leaves art || Gift of Curiosity

Next, we learned how to draw tree branches! Since this was new to my kids, we practiced first on scratch paper. I showed them how to make curving branches that continually split into new and smaller branches.

Fall leaves mixed media artwork using Kwik Stix solid tempera paints | Fall art project for kids | Fall leaves art || Gift of Curiosity

Once they had the hang of it, we used a white pencil on black construction paper to draw the outlines for our trees.

Fall leaves mixed media artwork using Kwik Stix solid tempera paints | Fall art project for kids | Fall leaves art || Gift of Curiosity

Then we used scissors to cut our trees out.

Fall leaves mixed media artwork using Kwik Stix solid tempera paints | Fall art project for kids | Fall leaves art || Gift of Curiosity

Finally, we used double sided tape to place our tree outlines over our colored backgrounds. (Be sure to put the side you wrote on face-down so that no pencil lines will show on the final project.)

Fall leaves mixed media artwork using Kwik Stix solid tempera paints | Fall art project for kids | Fall leaves art || Gift of Curiosity

The end result is quite enchanting, don’t you think?

Fall leaves mixed media artwork using Kwik Stix solid tempera paints | Fall art project for kids | Fall leaves art || Gift of Curiosity

I normally dread pulling out our tempera paints because of all the clean up I have to do afterwards. But with Kwik Stix paints, we get the beautiful look of paint without any of the mess or hassle. To see more projects using Kwik Stix, follow @KwikStixPaint on Instagram.

Plus, Kwik Stix paints are non-toxic as well as egg-, peanut-, and gluten-free. You can purchase them online at Amazon at Michaels or in person at Michael’s, BJ’s Wholesale, and Walgreens stores.

More arts and crafts resources

Popular arts and crafts activities from Gift of Curiosity:

  • Cut up art
  • Aluminum foil paintings
  • Leaf collages
  • Tape resist watercolor painting
  • Seed medallions
  • Trace the shapes art project
  • Corn husk dolls

Note: For more kid-friendly craft projects, see my Arts and Crafts for Kids page and my Arts and Crafts Pinterest board. 

Follow Katie @ Gift of Curiosity’s board Arts and crafts on Pinterest.

Don't miss out!

23 Comments

Comments

  1. Angie Center says

    September 21, 2017 at 7:20 am

    I tend to stay away from tempera paint because of the mess. However, these paints look amazing! I can’t wait to give them a try. Thank you for introducing them to me!

    Reply
  2. Brenda Haines says

    September 24, 2017 at 8:14 am

    These would be perfect for craft time with my 5 year old son. Thanks for the chance!

    Reply
  3. Angela Hendricks says

    September 24, 2017 at 8:49 am

    I would love to win this for my kids! I have an 8 yr old and a 3 yr old and they love doing arts and crafts. With Fall being here we will be doing lots of holiday crafts and these kwik sticks look amazing!

    Reply
  4. Becky says

    September 24, 2017 at 6:20 pm

    I would love to give these a try! What a great idea!

    Reply
  5. Sara L says

    September 26, 2017 at 3:21 am

    This looks awesome! I find so many painting projects I’d love to do with my kids, but it’s harder to plan for the mess potential. I can’t wait to try out Kwik Stix!

    Reply
  6. Traci says

    September 26, 2017 at 3:29 am

    I would enjoy introducing my preschooler to Kwik Stixs. He loves to paint, but I honestly do not paint with him often enough due to the “mess factor.” I think these paints would be a great addition to our home preschoo! And I really like your fall tree idea!!

    Reply
  7. Heather says

    September 26, 2017 at 4:36 am

    I would love these for my preschool class!

    Reply
  8. Dana Hutcherson says

    September 26, 2017 at 4:40 am

    I would love to try these with my special needs students!! Love like fun!!

    Reply
  9. Sarah says

    September 26, 2017 at 4:45 am

    I have 5 children and we have art lessons once a week. These paints would make clean up so much easier and the kids would love to be able to have more control over their artwork. Can’t wait to try this project, looks like a lot of fun!

    Reply
  10. Linda says

    September 26, 2017 at 5:26 am

    Can’t wait to use these with my grandsons.

    Reply
  11. Velma says

    September 26, 2017 at 7:01 am

    What a great and easy work of art! I would love to have these Kwik Stix to make something like this with my 3-year-old grandson.

    Reply
  12. Cynthia Becker says

    September 26, 2017 at 7:04 am

    These paints and the project look amazing!

    Reply
  13. Mary says

    September 26, 2017 at 7:53 am

    This looks like such a cool activity! I can’t wait to do this with my class. The paint you used looks amazing…..I need to get some and try it!

    Reply
  14. Jacqueline says

    September 26, 2017 at 9:41 am

    My kids burn through paint quickly, AND make a mess while doing it. This would allow them to be creative and clean up would be quick!

    Reply
  15. Brenda says

    September 26, 2017 at 11:05 am

    I have never tried them but think they would be great for my four year olds!

    Reply
  16. mahdiya says

    September 26, 2017 at 3:39 pm

    I will be starting homeschooling in a few months and would love to add these to our homeschool classroom 🙂

    Reply
  17. Carrie says

    September 26, 2017 at 9:25 pm

    I’ve never heard of these paint sticks before! Thanks for introducing them to me! And what a great fall craft idea, hope to try it!

    Reply
  18. Carolsue says

    September 27, 2017 at 12:07 am

    I’d like to win these to encourage my son’s artistic inner self!

    Reply
  19. Amber says

    September 27, 2017 at 4:37 am

    I have had my eye on these for a while and would love to win a set for our homeschool!

    Reply
  20. Amy says

    September 27, 2017 at 6:58 am

    The bright, vibrant colors of these are amazing. They also seem to last quite awhile. We’d really love to expand and try the neon colors, too. Thanks.

    Reply
  21. Kelly says

    September 27, 2017 at 10:47 am

    I can’t wait to try these with our 4 yr old twins! I get kind of freaked out with wet messes in the house. These look great for letting them use another medium and let me breathe a little.

    Love this project!

    Reply
  22. latanya says

    September 27, 2017 at 12:13 pm

    my son loves to draw and be creative.

    Reply
  23. Melanie says

    September 28, 2017 at 8:37 am

    These look so awesome! I love that you can play with paints with less mess.

    Reply

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