Snowman Acrylic Painting, Snowman Couple
Snowman acrylic painting, this one is a sweet couple! Easy, beginner friendly painting tutorial that is full of winter fun.
This snowman acrylic painting tutorial is of a sweet couple on a moon lit night. Have fun creating the glowing moon over a couple of love struck snow people.
You can change up to colors to suit your own tastes. Make the scarves green, yellow or in pastels. Swap out the earmuffs for hats, have fun making it your own!
I mention the size brush I use but if you find you are more comfortable with another size brush then please do use that size. Nothing is written in stone, experiment.
The complete downloadable PDF workbook and pattern are available here for purchase, just press. Another link is available lower in this post. The workbook has additional detail steps with photos that just would not fit in this post.
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Snowman acrylic painting tutorial Supplies
Brushes:
Donna Dewberry One stroke
#12 flat
#10 flat brush
¾ Inch Flat
3/4 Inch Pouncer
Liner brush
Sponge pieces
Paint:
Plaid FolkArt multi Surface or regular acrylics
Yellow Ocher
Alizarin Crimson
Navy Blue
True Blue
Wicker White
Burnt Umber
Licorice Black
Pure Orange
Berry Wine
Floating Medium
Background
I re-used a canvas from a painting I started but did not like so I gessoed over it. To cover the old design completely I needed to coat the canvas with a dark background. In this case I used a double load of Navy and True Blue.
You could start this snowman acrylic painting with a white canvas.
Want to see my favorite painting supplies, just press here.
Paint the Glowing Moon
To paint the glowing moon, start with the 3/4″ flat brush and paint a circle with Wicker White.
Add Navy blue to the brush without rinsing out the white. Start an inch out from the white circle and stroke around and towards it.
If you find that hard to understand see the 6:00 mark of the video.
Don’t overwork it. Once you have worked into the moon then start working outward adding more Navy to your brush.
You will get white streaks without reloading white by using added pressure to the brush.
Take your moon all the way to the left edge. Let dry.
Transfer Snowman (couple) pattern
You can choose to sketch in your snow people or you can transfer the pattern.
Need more info on transferring patterns? See this post: How to Transfer painting patterns.
Under paint Snowman Couple
Using Wicker white or a light color of choice and the 3/4″ brush you may have on hand, undercoat the snow people.
White takes a couple coats to cover a dark surface well so the undercoat helps. I used a light pink that I had on hand but don’t use so it did the job for me.
Sponge paint the Snowman couple
Using a piece of sponge pounce in the snow people with Wicker White.
See this post on how I create these sponge pieces.
The sponge creates a fun texture to the paint. You could easily use a paint brush and stroke in the snow couple if you prefer.
Add shading
Without washing the sponge dip lightly into the Navy blue and blend it into the white around the edges you wish to create shading for dimension. For instance, where the one tummy overlaps the other.
On the pattern I have his tummy overlapping hers but either way works.
Paint Snowman heart buttons, eyes and mouth
Using Alizarin Crimson and the #12 flat brush paint on the heart buttons. Don’t worry about being perfect or symmetrical, just have fun with it!
The eyes are painted in ovals with Licorice and the #10 or #12 flat brush.
Using the tail end of the brush, dot on Licorice in a smile on their faces.
Use Berry Wine to shade one side of the heart buttons.
Add highlights to the opposite side of the hearts with Pure Orange in the same way.
Paint Carrot Nose
Use Pure Orange and the #12 flat brush to paint a triangular shape to mimic a carrot nose.
Let dry. The orange will not be opaque. We will add a second coat later to deepen the opacity.
Add eye details
Side load a touch of Wicker White to the #10 flat brush and stroke a touch of highlight along the left edge of the his eyes and the right of hers.
Place a dot of Wicker White in the eyes where it looks like they are looking towards each other.
Paint Snowman scarves
Using the 3/4″ flat brush, paint a band of color across the snow people’s necks. True Blue for the boy and Alizarin Crimson for the girl.
We will need to let these dry and we will come back to them after we do the ear muffs.
This is where you can really make this painting your own. Choose which colors you prefer for the scarves and ear muffs.
Ear muffs
Using the 3/4 inch pouncer brush (it comes in the multi-pack linked) load with color and pounce ear muffs on in colors of choice.
I used Alizarin Crimson for him and True Blue for her.
Shade and highlight. Shade with the Navy blue and Highlight with white.
Using the chisel edge of a flat brush and Wicker White pull a line between the ear muffs.
Now back to the scarves. With the #12 flat and Wicker White, stroke stripes onto his scarf with a slighlty curving flat stroke.
Next switch to the 3/4″ flat and load with True Blue. Side load a touch of Navy Blue.
Starting on the chisel edge of the brush right at where the scarf comes up under at the neck, slide the brush to the left then down with a slight curve.
To get a feel for what I am saying see video at the 1:10 mark.
Do the same on her scarf using Alizarin crimson and berry wine and slide to the right and down.
Create shadows beneath and alongside the scarves. His using Navy blue with Floating Medium and her using Berry Wine and floating medium.
Get Dotty
Using the tail end of the brush, dip into Wicker White and add polka dots to the snow lady’s scarf.
And don’t forget to add the stripes to his scarf too.
Now you have a sweet snow couple to display in your home or give as a gift. Here is a photo of a sign I made with just a snowman. I used a bucket for his hat.
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