Falling Leaves Crayon Resist Project

Remember doing a crayon resist project in art class in elementary school? I know I do. After seeing a crayon resist leaf project on this website, I was inspired to come up with one my own.

Falling Leaves Crayon Resist by Mia, age 3 1/2 (drawing by Mama)

Materials Needed:

• white paper
• watercolor paints
• paint brush
• small container of water
• crayons in fall colors (red, orange, yellow, etc.)
• real leaves (optional)

Directions:

1. Draw outlines of various leaf shapes onto white paper using crayon. I chose to space the leaves out all over the paper so that it looks like they have fallen somewhat randomly, and some of them go over the edge of the paper. Draw veins on the leaves for extra dimension. (You could trace an actual leaf if you don't want to draw the leaves free hand.)
2. Color in the leaves with crayons, making sure to press firmly. You may wish to leave parts of the leaves uncolored. (These parts will get filled in with paint.)
3. Using one color of watercolor paint (Mia chose red), wash over the entire piece of paper.
4. The paint will fill in the white spaces, and of course, the crayon-covered parts will resist the paint. Allow the paint to dry before displaying your artwork.