I took the girls to the zoo this weekend and I had some fun FINALLY experimenting with my zoom lens. It was cool to take some photos of something other than the kids for once. So, I came home with some cool animal shots and I was trying to think of something to do with them here on Prudent Baby. Here is a DIY for these little watercolor silhouettes that I made.

FULL DIY and FREE animal images for download after the jump.

What you need:

• Print outs of Animals or any subject with an interesting silhouette. With a bouquet of flowers you could do something beautiful like this.

• Watercolor paper

• Watercolor paints (2-3 colors will do)

• Brush

• Xacto blade or small scissors

• Masking tape

1. Print out your image to fit comfortably on your watercolor paper with room around.

2. Cut out your animal with as much detail as possible (but don’t go crazy, note I skipped the hair on the elephant’s back. )

3. Position your cut-out and trace with your pencil. Try to keep your pencil line light.

Give your subject a surface to stand on so he doesn’t float.

4. Tape your watercolor paper down to a piece of cardboard or art board all the way around the very edge.

5. Use your brush to wet the entire background around your animal. I didn’t go all the way to the edge and tried to leave a few small spots dry. Tip: you can tint the water lightly with watercolor paint so that you can see where you have missed.

4. Load your brush up with wet paint and touch your brush to the paper. The paint will spread but only on the wet areas. Add more paint. Move the board around to help the paint spread. Use your brush to cheat your paint into smaller details.

Tip: Try to continue the tone “behind: the animal. For example: If the left side of the trunk is purple, continue on the right side of the trunk with purple.

5. Step back and squint.  Can you see your animal clearly? Is the background too bright? Too busy? If so, brush over the entire background with a wet brush to mute and blend the background.

6. Let your painting dry completely before removing tape carefully.

Images for download…

by Jacinda