Step-by-step house on a hilltop painting:)

I’m not completely sure why this painting makes me so happy, but it does.

I’m super excited to add it to my paint party gallery, which you view HERE! Meanwhile, here is a quick step-by-step you can follow all by yourself. If you think you can’t paint, try it anyway. I’ll bet you’ll surprise yourself!

Stuff you shall need:

1. 8×8″ canvas (this is an Artist Loft Level One canvas from Micheals — I personally think they work great for these little projects!)
2. Painter’s tape
3. Sky blue, purple, an “earthy” yellow, light yellow, black, red, and white acrylic paint.
4. Brushes: a larger flat brush, angle brush, round brush, and a detail brush may work best. But you use what you’re comfortable with!
5. Paper towels (for absorbing excess water) and a palette (I’m using palette paper because it’s so easy to clean up)
6. LAST BUT NOT LEAST: Belief in yourself!

Without further ado, here we go!

A simple sketch helps. I transferred a light sketch using my trusty HB pencil. Just enough to guide my painting. I’ve also placed painter’s tape around the edges of the painting to make about a 1/2 inch border around 3 sides, thicker on the bottom. You’ll see how nice that looks at the end.

Okay, I chose to “mask” my house with regular printer paper, just to keep the edges clean. You don’t have to do this but it’ll help free up your brushstrokes. I taped my house covering down with a little more painter’s tape.

TIME TO PAINT!

You just mix a bit of purple with your sky blue for the darkest part of the sky. Then, using your bigger brush, you make a gradual change from purple to blue to light blue. Try to make semicircle-ish brushstrokes (Also, notice I’m trying not to put too much paint on my tree, but it’s totally okay to swipe some sky into the edges).

For the grass, mix some yellow with your blue and purple. You’ll know when it’s the right ratio! Really, you will (Refer to above requirement: belief in yourself!) Paint the hills in downward brushstrokes using a broad brush. Broad brushes keep things fast so you can’t think too much (always a plus:) Then, using the angle brush, paint the road in Blue+white paint.

Time to peel off that mask! There’s the house, nice and tidy.

Now, using a round brush, you can paint the sky behind the porch. It’s totally fine if you paint over the chair. You’ll find it later.

Next, use your grass color to block in the tree. I like using my angle brush for this. To make leafy looking places, just dab the pointy part of the brush on the canvas.

Tada! Your tree.

You can use a mix of purple and blue for the tree trunk. Doesn’t have to be fancy. Trees aren’t fancy. They often grow crooked, you know? So, mostly just strive for something not too symmetrical. You know the saying about nature abhorring a vacuum? Well, when it comes to paintings, nature also abhors too much symmetry.

For the house, I used black, blue, and white to create this cool gray shade. Just paint in the siding and leave the windows and the door. We’ll get to them in a sec.

Using your round brush, paint the roof and the porch. Then, using your angle brush, and a purple/blue paint mix, do a few quick swipes down the road to show the tire tracks. Then criss-cross. Like you’re making flowy ladders.

Starting to look like something huh?

Paint the windows in your “earthy” yellow. The door is red+a tad of purple. That keeps it from looking too bright.

Time for the dandelions. Okay, they have to start of as white dots. This’ll help the yellow really pop. Do big dots in the foreground and smaller as you climb up the hill, to show distance. Notice how the distant flowers are closer together? Keep things natural and not too orderly. Remember, nature abhors too much symmetry.

Now we must let the white paint dry. Won’t take long.

Stuff you can do to while your paint dries:

1. You can wave the canvas up and down to create airflow, thus speeding up dry time (…maybe not recommended if you’re in public?).
2. You can fan the painting with your hand and tell it to hurry up and dry already (also not recommended if you’re in public).
3. Or, you can just work on some other areas of your painting.

I think I prefer the last option. Though it is possible I have tried Option 1 before. Don’t judge.

Using your light yellow paint (I used Liquitex Basics primary yellow), paint the centers of your windows. This helps them glow.

Then you can dab a smidgen of white in the center of each window and work it in. This creates that glowing look.

Next, just mix some white with your tree color and dab lightly over your leaves. This will be your highlights where the moon is hitting them (we’ll get to that moon in a sec).

Okay, the white paint should be dry enough by now. Take your light yellow and color it in, using the round brush. This part is SO rewarding!

Now, mix a bit of blue, white, and purple. Using your round brush, paint horizontal stripes over the gray, leaving a little gray peeping out. This shows the cute lap siding.

I used my lap siding color to do a few swipes on the tree trunk, where the moonlight hits it.

Time for the moon!

I filled my angle brush with plain white. Then, holding the brush upright and anchoring the short end, I just made a half-circle where the moon will be…

This made a small moon. I made it bigger using the same idea, only I had to move the brush a tad more to follow the circumference.

Ugh, circumference. That sounded a lot like math, I apologize (This is a no-math zone!).

So now, holding my angle brush upright, I’m doing a few quick strokes of yellow+white down the road…

…to show the moonlight:-)

Using your detail brush, you can add some stars. I made a shooting star, but you don’t have to. If you so desire, however, all you need two do is press a dot of white onto the sky, then lightly swipe up at an angle, allowing the paint to naturally “scrape away.” Practice a couple times on your palette if needed to get the hang of it. It’s super easy once you do!

You can add depth by dabbing a few leaves in front of the moon. Then you can add some light green along the edges of the hills.

You can smooth it in some using your round brush.

I added some darker green beneath my tree, for definition.

It helps to “sketch in” the rocking chair with white paint, using your fine detail brush. The white paint allows your brain to sort of know how to correct it when it’s time to turn it into a silhouette.

See? Cool, isn’t it? I realized my chair wasn’t quite right so I just left some of it unpainted. The white can be easily covered in sky color.

Adding some yellow+white highlights to the grass beneath those lovely glowing windows!

Okay! Time for the magic to happen! Peel off the tape to reveal those clean white edges!

And of course, don’t forget to sign your painting!

If you gave this a shot, feel free to share how it went in the comments! And if you’re interested in a guided paint party where I walk you through (in person) how to create this dreamy scene, then check out my info page HERE.

That’s it for now. Keep creating 🙂