Fall Bushel of Apples Acrylic Painting Tutorial

Today we are going to paint a fall bushel of apples! I have done this painting twice Live on my FB page. The first one was a tech nightmare! Whatever could go wrong did.

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How to Paint Fall Bushel of Apples watercolor and acrylic The Social Easel Online Paint Studio

In the first lesson, I used watercolors like acrylics. I love how it turned out! If you want to take a chance watching that blunder of a video, you can HERE. But, I have many tutorials right here on my blog, walking you through the painting technique for you to learn from and apply to the fall bushel of apples template.

This lesson will be done with traditional acrylic painting.

Trace or Sketch Your Fall Scene

First, get your sketch onto your painting surface. I showed you how I created my sketch in the video below. If you don’t want to freehand, I made a template you can download to print HERE.

You don’t have to use my template! Draw any fun fall scene you like. You can start with a pencil and trace over with your waterproof pen too. Check out my blog on transferring printable templates onto canvases.

Let’s get to the painting!

Paint the Background

I chose to use a mixture of slate blue and white for my background. You know how fall days are. The sun isn’t always shining, and it’s just a cool overcast day. 

Choose any of your favorite colors!

How to Paint Fall Bushel of Apples Paint Colors The Social Easel Online Paint Studio

I start by filling in the whole background around my sketch lines. You don’t have to do this perfectly, and you will most definitely cover some of your drawings.

That’s ok.

Once it’s dry, you will be able to see some of your lines, and we will go back to them with color after the background dries.

Next, move down to the ground with your favorite mix of greens. After filling everything in, I grab some of the darker green and add some shadows around my bushel and tree. Grab some yellow for highlights too.

Just play around and see what you like.

Paint the Tree and Bushel

Now that the background is finished swap to a small round brush to paint the tree using long smooth strokes. I used a little bit of brown and white on my brush, so I get a little bit of organic color variation when I apply the paint.

Check out this blog to learn more about color values and creating shadows and highlights in your paintings. I actually demonstrate this lesson by painting an old bare tree like the one we are painting today!

Some of my branches are pretty thin and need a smaller brush. I like to have a few sizes within reach so I can easily swap back and forth. This acrylic paint brush set has every size I needed for this project.

While you have brown on your brush, grab more white to get a lighter color for your bushel. Again, don’t worry about those lines. In this painting lesson, I will go back over with my black waterproof pen for that sketch-like look. I sure do love a good sketchy outline 🙂

How to Paint Fall Bushel of Apples acrylic The Social Easel Online Paint Studio

Then, I paint on the first layer of a little picket fence with even more white paint in my mix. 

When the first coat of paint is dry use dark and light tones to create the bands on your bushel. Then highlight the fence with white. 

Paint the Apples and Leaves

With a small round brush and an orangy-red mix of paint, I quickly fill in all the apples and leaves to cover with a thin first coat. 

Bushel of Apples Fall Acrylic Painting Tutorial The Social Easel

It didn’t take long for this layer to dry, so I was able to jump right back in with my second coat of paint, adding more details and contrast by layering in red, orange, and yellow.

Outline in Black

Now, it’s time for a transformation! Feel free to skip this part if you don’t like the look.

Always make sure the paint is completely dry before going over with a black paint pen or sharpie. It only takes a little bit of wet paint will ruin your favorite one.

Black Sketch lines How to Paint Fall Bushel of Apples watercolor and acrylic The Social Easel Online Paint Studio

Outline your fall bushel of apples scene Christie style, fast and sketchy. I love the way it looks! You don’t have to outline everything fully. Just get loose with it and add some scribbles.

Hello Fall Lettering on Fall Painting tutorial The Social Easel

If you choose to add lettering, it’s simple to do with the same acrylic paint pen and the simple Hello Fall is included in my template!

How to Paint Fall Bushel of Apples watercolor with Christie The Social Easel Online Paint Studio

In the Live lesson, I shared not only my super fun fall painting tutorial with you but all the details about my brand new course that I am SO excited about!

So excited, in fact, it’s fully loaded with a stack of extras! I just wanted to add EVERYTHING you needed to be successful in learning how to create your own original art ideas.

You will learn:

  • The Art of Not Copying: Learning to be inspired but not copy ideas you see on Pinterest
  • How to take real-life inspiration from places like Hobby Lobby and make them your own
  • How to make your own still life and turn it into a painting

And so much more! Learn more about my Learn the Process of Creating Original Art course HERE!

Watch Christie’s Full Fall Bushel of Apples Painting Tutorial!

Have you painted your Fall Bushel of Apples yet? Now that I have painted it twice, I am really having a hard time deciding which is my favorite! Visit my FB painting community and share what you make!

Did you paint yours with a watercolor technique or with acrylic paints? I would love to know.

Easy Fall Acrylic Painting Tutorial Bushel of Apples with Tree The Social Easel