Paint with acrylics
Paint a colorful beginner acrylic landscape using brushes, palette, and simple techniques. Practice color mixing, layering, and cleaning brushes safely.
About this activity
Paint a colorful beginner acrylic landscape using brushes, palette, and simple techniques. Practice color mixing, layering, and cleaning brushes safely.
What you need
Step by step
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Step 1
Set up your workspace by placing all materials within reach on a flat table.
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Step 2
Put on your old shirt or apron to protect your clothes.
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Step 3
Lightly sketch a horizontal line for the horizon and a few simple hill shapes with your pencil.
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Step 4
Squeeze small blobs of blue yellow red and white onto your palette.
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Step 5
Mix a light sky color by blending blue with white on the palette until it looks soft.
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Step 6
Paint the top two-thirds of your canvas with the sky color using horizontal strokes.
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Step 7
Rinse your brush in the water cup until most paint rinses out.
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Step 8
Blot your brush on a paper towel until it is mostly dry.
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Step 9
Mix a light green by blending blue and yellow and add a little white if you want it lighter.
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Step 10
Paint the distant hills with the light green using gentle rounded strokes.
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Step 11
Mix a darker green by adding more blue or a tiny touch of red to your green on the palette.
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Step 12
Paint the foreground with the darker green and add simple details like a tree or path using a smaller brush.
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Step 13
Wash all brushes thoroughly in clean water and then blot them on a paper towel and lay them flat to dry.
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Step 14
Share a photo of your finished colorful landscape on DIY.org.
Fun facts
How do I paint a colorful beginner acrylic landscape?
Set up a clean workspace, stretch or tape your paper/canvas, and sketch a simple horizon line. Block in large shapes first: sky, distant hills, foreground. Mix base colors on a palette and apply thin layers, letting each layer dry briefly before adding details. Use larger flat brushes for blocking and smaller round brushes for details. Finish with highlights and allow to fully dry before varnishing or framing.
What materials do I need for a beginner acrylic landscape?
You’ll need student-grade acrylic paints (primary colors plus white; optional green, brown), a selection of brushes (flat, round, small detail), a palette or plate for mixing, canvas panel or acrylic paper, water jar, paper towels, palette knife, apron or old clothes, and a container for cleaning brushes. Choose non-toxic paints labeled safe for kids and a board or easel to keep the surface steady while painting.
What ages is painting a beginner acrylic landscape suitable for?
Acrylic landscape painting can suit children about 6 and up with supervision; basic color mixing and brush control are manageable then. Ages 3–5 can try simplified versions using larger brushes and washable, non-toxic paints with close adult help. Older children (8+) can follow step-by-step techniques, practice layering, and learn brushes and cleaning. Adapt time and complexity to attention span and motor skills for best results.
What are the benefits and safety tips for kids painting with acrylics?
Painting acrylic landscapes builds creativity, color theory, fine motor skills, patience, and confidence. For safety, choose non-toxic paints, supervise younger children, ventilate the workspace, and keep paints away from mouths. Use aprons and cover surfaces, wash hands after painting, and clean brushes gently with water and mild soap. Store paints and solvents out of children’s reach and follow label instructions for safe use and disposal.
Watch & Learn
Need help?
I don't have a canvas or acrylic paints — what can I use instead?
If you don't have acrylics or a canvas, use tempera or poster paints on heavy watercolor paper or sturdy cardboard and follow the same mixing and painting steps (squeeze blobs on a paper plate palette, mix sky and greens, paint top two-thirds, etc.).
My greens keep turning muddy or my brush leaves drips — how do I fix that?
Avoid muddy greens by testing mixes on scrap paper, add only tiny amounts of red when making darker green, rinse your brush in the water cup and blot it on a paper towel until mostly dry before painting foreground details to prevent drips.
How can I change the activity for different ages?
For younger kids (3–5), skip the light pencil horizon, use thicker tempera and large brushes or fingers to paint simple sky and hills, while older kids (8+) keep the pencil sketch, mix subtle sky gradients, and use a small brush to add the tree or path details from the instructions.
How can we make the finished painting more special or longer lasting?
Add texture by scraping wet darker green with a palette knife or pressing torn magazine pieces into the foreground paint, add highlights to the tree with the small brush, let everything dry, then photograph the finished colorful landscape and share it on DIY.org as suggested.