Make this easy heart painting with watercolors and oil pastels for Valentine’s Day! Kids will explore repeating patterns and using bright bold colors. Using bold oil pastel colors and vibrant watercolor paint really makes this heart painting stand out.
You could string a few together to make a beautiful garland, hang these up in a classroom to brighten up the walls (try gluing them down onto colorful paper), or have kids make them as special handmade cards to give to family and friends.
There are so many fun watercolor techniques for kids to try! Take a look at my collection of watercolor painting for kids for more fun and creative ideas.
For more fun Valentine’s Day projects, take a look at these creative Valentine’s Day arts and crafts ideas that kids will love to make!
For this project, I created a free printable template to make this art project even easier for you. This template is available to my email subscribers. Fill out the form below to get the free template.
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Create your own easy heart painting
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Supplies
- Watercolor paper
- Watercolor paint (you can use a watercolor set or liquid watercolors)
- Oil pastels
- Paint palette (if using liquid watercolors) and water dish
- Paint brushes
- Pencil and eraser
- Scissors
Instructions for your heart painting
1. First, print out your heart template onto printer paper and trace it onto watercolor paper. I used 11 x 15-inch watercolor paper and got two hearts per sheet of paper.
There are a few different heart templates that come in the free heart printable template pack, I used the biggest heart template but kids might want to try a different size or even try drawing their own templates.
You can either carefully cut out the hearts first or cut them out after you have finished painting them and they have completely dried.
2. Use a pencil to lightly draw in your design. Oil pastels can be quite thick and it can be hard to get fine detail when using them, so keep your design simple. Kids can draw out a Valentine’s Day pattern like in the example below and focus on repeating patterns and simple colors.
Kids can also draw in any design they like and have fun coming up with creative designs for their hearts! As you can see from the examples, I drew flowers and leaves in another heart and a repeating pattern for another.
3. Once your design has been drawn on a heart, then it’s time to add some color with oil pastels. Remind kids to go slow with this part, oil pastels can be smudgy. You also want to press fairly hard with the oil pastels, this will ensure the best results with the resist technique.
Encourage kids to be creative with their use of colors and plan out their designs before they start tracing with oil pastels.
4. The final step is to paint with watercolors over your oil pastel design, this is called a watercolor oil pastel resist technique. As you paint, your final design will be revealed!
You can use a watercolor paint set or liquid watercolors for this part. If you are using liquid watercolors, you will need to use a paint palette and dilute the paint a bit with water to get the desired color. Test out your colors first on some scrap paper.
If you are using a watercolor paint set, you can just paint straight from the set to get nice vibrant colors.
Use a larger paint brush for this part, it will make it easier for kids to paint over their entire heart shape. Dip your paintbrush in watercolor paint and paint over your heart shape, revealing your final design!
Let your paper dry on a flat surface. If you have not cut your hearts out, let your paper dry first and then carefully cut out your heart shapes.
This easy heart painting is such a fun art activity for Valentine’s Day that kids of all ages will enjoy making! There is a lot of opportunity for kids to be creative in choosing their designs and colors, making each heart painting unique.
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More heart painting ideas kids will love
Watercolor Heart Art Painting Idea
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Pin this heart art project for later
Easy Heart Painting with Watercolors and Oil Pastels
Use bold watercolors and oil pastels to make this easy heart painting project for Valentine's Day! Kids will explore colors and repeating patterns. Great classroom decor or handmade card idea!
Materials
- Watercolor paper
- Watercolor paint (you can use a watercolor set or liquid watercolors)
- Oil pastels
- Paint palette (if using liquid watercolors) and water dish
- Paint brushes
- Pencil and eraser
- Scissors
Instructions
- Print the heart template on printer paper and trace it onto watercolor paper (11 x 15 inches fits two hearts per sheet). Cut out the hearts before or after painting, once dry.
- Lightly sketch a simple design with a pencil. Oil pastels are thick, so avoid fine details. Kids can create a Valentine's Day pattern with repeating shapes and colors.
- Trace the design with oil pastels. Press firmly for bold results and encourage creativity with colors. Kids can draw patterns, flowers, or anything they like.
- Paint over the oil pastel design with watercolors (use a set or liquid watercolors diluted with water). Use a large brush to cover the heart. Let the design dry on a flat surface, then cut out the hearts if you haven’t already.
