This polar bear winter painting is so adorable and colorful! We used a mixed media approach to make these paintings and a clever way for kids to draw the polar bear all on their own. Kids will love creating their own cute polar bear art!
We love exploring different painting techniques. Take a look at my collection of painting ideas for kids for more fun and creative art projects to try!
This art project would make a great addition to any winter or arctic animal unit and is perfect for older kids and tweens. Kids can choose any color combination for their snowy background to make this art project unique!
We have made a couple of painting’s in this same style for different holidays and seasons. Take a look at this fun reindeer painting for kids, this cute Easter bunny painting and this adorable Valentine’s Day panda art project for more great ideas.
If you are looking for more winter project ideas take a look at my collection of beautiful winter art for kids to make!
Create your own polar bear winter painting
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Supplies
- White cardstock
- White and black acrylic paint
- Watercolor paint we used liquid watercolors and a watercolor set
- White oil pastel
- Black paint pen or sharpie
- Paintbrushes
- Paint palette
- Pencil and ruler
- Large and small plastic lids or cardboard templates
Instructions for your polar bear winter art project
1. Start by drawing your polar bear. You will need white cardstock, a pencil, and 2 lids. One large plastic lid and one smaller lid. If you don’t have the right size of lids, you can just make a template out of cardboard for kids to use.
Place the larger lid near the bottom of your paper and trace around it. You want the bottom part of the lid to be off of the paper slightly.
Use the smaller lid as a template to draw the bear’s ears. Draw in the inner part of the bear’s ears.
2. Draw the face next. Start by drawing a dot on your bear’s face where you want the nose to go. Draw in the nose like in the photo above and add in the smiling mouth.
Finally, add in the eyes. Start by drawing an oval shape for the left eye. Use a ruler to draw straight lines across at the top and bottom of your oval eye shape. This will help make the eyes roughly the same shape and position.
Draw in the right eye using the lines as a guide for the placement. Finish drawing in the eyes looking up.
3. Use a white oil pastel to draw in snowflakes and falling snow for the background of your painting. Remind kids to press hard when drawing their snowflakes and to use thick lines. This will help the oil pastels to resist the watercolor paint and create a nice contrast.
4. Mix three colors for your background. You can use liquid watercolors, watercolors from a pan set or a mixture of both, which is what we did.
For more info on using watercolor supplies with kids check out this post on beginner watercolor supplies.
5. Use a medium flat brush and paint your background with watercolors. Start at the top with one color, paint the middle with another color and the bottom of your painting with your third color.
It’s always magical for kids to watch their designs appear as they paint!
Remind kids to be careful painting around their bear’s face. It’s ok if some of the color gets on the bear you can try covering it up with a couple of coats of white paint.
Let the background dry completely before moving on.
6. Use a smaller round brush and white acrylic paint to outline your bear’s face and around the eyes and nose first and then paint the rest of the face white. It’s ok if you paint over the smile, it will still show through enough to trace it later.
Let this dry before starting on the face details.
7. Paint the inside of the bear’s ears, the inside of the eyes and the bear’s nose with black acrylic paint. If kids find painting the eyes tricky, they can use a paint pen or black sharpie for this step.
8. To finish off your polar bear’s face, use an extra-fine black paint pen or black sharpie to outline the eyes and draw in the bear’s mouth.
I love how colorful this polar bear winter painting turned out. The bright background gives a nice contrast against the white snowflakes and polar bear. This is a fun winter art project that kids will enjoy making!
We love creating and exploring with different art supplies and techniques. If you are looking for more art projects to try, take a look at our ultimate collection of amazing art projects for kids!
More winter art projects kids will love
Winter Scrape Painting with Narwhal Printable
Winter Tree Painting with Cotton Balls
Follow me on Pinterest for more amazing project ideas.
Pin this winter art for later
The Cutest Polar Bear Winter Painting for Kids to Make
Kids will have fun making this cute and colorful polar bear winter painting using a mixed media approach. Step by step easy tutorial included.
Materials
- White cardstock
- White oil pastel
- Watercolor paint
- Black and white acrylic paint
- Extra fine black paint pen or black sharpie
- Pencil
Tools
- Paintbrushes
- Paint palette
- Ruler
- Large and small plastic lid or cardboard template
Instructions
- Start by drawing your polar bear face with a pencil on white cardstock.
Use a large plastic lid or cardboard template to draw in the face and a smaller plastic lid to draw in the ears.
Draw in the inner part of the bear's ears. - Draw a dot in the center of the face where you want the bear's nose to go. Use the dot as a guide to draw in the nose, then draw in the smiling mouth.
Draw an oval shape for the left eye. Use a ruler to draw straight lines across at the top and bottom of your oval eye shape. This will help make the eyes roughly the same shape and position.
Draw in the right eye using the lines as a guide for the placement. Finish drawing in the eyes looking up. - Use white oil pastel to draw in snowflakes and falling snow on your background.
- Mix three watercolor paint colors for the background. Use a flat brush to paint in the background to reveal your designs. Kids always love this part!
Paint one color at the top, the second color in the middle and the third color at the bottom. Remind kids to be careful painting around their bear’s face.
Let the background dry before moving on. - Use a smaller round brush and white acrylic paint to paint around the bear and the bear's eyes and nose first and then paint in the rest of the bear.
Let this dry. - Paint the bear's inner ears, nose and inside of the eyes with black acrylic paint and a small round brush.
Kids can use a black paint pen or sharpie to color in the eyes if using a paintbrush is too challenging. - Finish off your bear's face by outlining the eyes and drawing in the mouth with an extra-fine black paint pen or black sharpie.
