Is there a better season for tossing on a chunky, oversized sweater, grabbing your brushes, and getting creative with artwork than fall? Nature’s palette is bursting with hues ranging from fiery reds to burnt oranges and deep golden yellows. Each hue is perfect for autumn acrylic painting ideas that practically leap off the canvas.
Are you an experienced artist or just picking up a brush for the first time? We’ve got three easy autumn painting ideas suitable for the beginner or established artist to spark inspiration, color, and imagination.
Dive into a world of crisp air laden with pine needles, the crunch of leaves underfoot, and rustic scenes with cozy vibes with us below!
Beginner Tips and Tricks:
Have you never painted with acrylics on canvas before? No problem. As a beginner, there’s no shame in wondering where to start. Here are a few quick tips to prime your canvas and sketching:
- Prime your canvas. Priming a canvas, no matter how large or small, protects it and allows the paint to sit better on the surface. Additionally, an excellent primer ensures that paint does not sink into the canvas material.
- Be patient. After preparing a canvas, it's tempting to dive right in. However, for the best results, we recommend waiting at least 24 hours before painting.
- Use a soft touch when sketching. If you want to sketch a quick layout, use very light pressure with an H pencil. Avoid dark or strong strokes, as left-over graphite can mix with acrylic, which can cause bleeding through thin applications or paint muddying.
- A kneadable eraser, shaped into a log and gently hand-rolled over the sketch, can often further lighten any accidentally heavy-handed sketch lines or graphite deposits.
1. Autumn Leaves
A few things say “Fall,” like the kaleidoscope of colors we get to see nature present to us in autumn leaves. If you are a beginner at acrylic painting, you might hesitate to ask yourself, “How do I sketch leaves before painting?”
While leaves appear complicated, you can simplify the sketching process for an autumn leaf acrylic painting by:
- Nature embraces imperfections. Avoid trying to find or worrying about any straight lines. Most leaves are imperfect ovals, or “elliptical,” where the shape is most comprehensive in the middle and tapers at the top and bottom.There’s no shame in using a reference! If you’re painting a specific part of the world, look up trees native to the area and gather images of them and their leaves. This way, you’ll have a reference for the shape of the tree and great close up details, like the veins in a leaf to try and recreate.
- Some leaves are more egg-shaped (widest at the bottom, smallest at the tip). Feel free to play with oval, egg, lance, or even circles for a varied leaf pattern that feels more natural.
- Add a naturally curving line from stem to tip to represent the central vein in a leaf, then use gently curving lines from the middle outward to indicate the minor veining.
- Don’t get lost in the details. There’s no need to get it perfect. The sketching stage is excellent for a general idea of where everything will go. You can get as detailed or as abstract when painting.
Once the canvas is primed and the gesso has dried, it’s time for the perfect fall colors to complement your autumn leaves painting ideas. Consider:
- A mix of Cadmium Yellow Medium and Phthalo Turquoise creates an excellent range of autumnal greens.
- Layering in Cadmium Reds and Indian Yellow can bring the changing seasons to life.
Pro Tip: Don’t be afraid to experiment with matte mediums or thin acrylics, or use Novaplex to create a softer, almost watercolor effect.
Painting leaves is perfect for all skill levels and makes for brilliant seasonal wall art.
2. Rustic Landscapes
There is a soothing, charming ambiance to rustic landscapes, which have made them a popular choice for painting for hundreds of years. If a peaceful autumn landscape is a favorite place for your mind to retreat to, why not choose a rustic landscape
Think of rolling golden hills blanketed by amber trees or a misty autumn forest at dawn. Use colors like buttery-warm Yellow Ochre and Burnt Umber to easily create the warm tones that dominate any fall landscape.
Add a touch of gorgeous Cobalt Blue to capture the clear, crisp essence of autumn skies and water. A palette knife can easily add more dimension to acrylic paintings. Textures a palette knife can add, for example, include spindly branches, chunky trees, and even wispy clouds.
3. Autumn Tree Painting Ideas
For an art project that balances stunning visual impact with less effort, painting a fall-colored tree is a perfect autumn painting idea for a beginner. You can go as simple as a stark, jet-black leafless tree silhouette against a fiery orange and red sunset or attempt a beautiful painting of a birch tree in seasonal foliage.
For the tree silhouette at sunset, try playing with these colors:
- Apply a wash of colors, beginning with Cerulean Blue, Titanium White, Quinacridone Magenta, Cadmium Red Light, Cadmium Yellow Medium. Use a large brush and begin with the blue at the top, painting back and forth quickly to blend the colors together.
- Tip: Find your paint drying faster than you can blend? You can help slow down acrylic drying too fast by adding a medium to slow it down.
- Use a beautiful, deep dark grey or black to hand paint the silhouette of a tree with bare branches reaching up into the sky.
For a birch tree crowned in autumn leaves:
- Gather: Cadmium Red Medium, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Cerulean Blue, Titanium White, and Iron Oxide/Mars Black paints.
- Use a flat brush, about ¾ to 1”
- An 8 Flat brush
- A #6 Round
You can use a paper plate if you don't have a palette or paint mixer. Start by working in layers, and imagine the space farthest from the viewer to be where you begin painting the sky. Leave a trunk-shaped gap in the middle as the last layer is what will be closest to a viewer, and more in focus
Utilizing your reds, yellows and whites, begin using your flat brush to paint the reds and yellows in loose dabs. Don’t worry about the red, yellow and white mixing together too much, as these colors will create the perfect autumn leaf palette.
Once these are done, let the acrylic paint dry thoroughly before beginning to layer in the Titanium white with your flat brush as the trunk, and then #6 round for white branches that grow into the leaves you painted
Last, dip your #8 flat brushes into your black paint once the trunk and branches are dry. Using a paper towel, dab off any excess paint and swipe your flat brush quickly from side to side, using the entire brush width in short bursts to mimic the texture of birch bark.
Protip: Don’t want to swipe black paint and transfer it to the background accidentally? Consider masking the tree off once all the layers beneath are dry, that way, you don’t have to worry about accidental swipes while adding bark texture.
Unleash Your Creativity and Color your Life this fall with Nova Color
As the temperatures steadily drop and the summer heat washes, away there’s no better time to get inspired by these autumn painting ideas.
Don’t wait for the perfect time—it's now. Grab your brushes and your best sweater and let your creativity flow. With our entire collection of paints, you can reach new heights and start your next autumn masterpiece.