This birds on a branch silhouette painting is a beautifully simple painting that looks great just about everywhere. Try your hand at making this fun home decor project today!
Birds On A Branch Silhouette Painting
I made this birds on a branch silhouette painting for my daughter for Christmas. She recently moved into her first apartment and I wanted to give her a special gift. It had to be a surprise, though. I didn’t want her to know what it was. Let’s face it, when kids become young adults, Christmas presents aren’t really much of a surprise anymore, but I really wanted this one to be. Besides, her favorite holiday is Christmas and she has always loved the secret, magical element of it. So how could I disappoint her?
Looking for an easier painting for beginners? This Modern Circle Tree Painting is easy enough for just about anyone to tackle. Pick your favorite colors or the colors that match your decor and you have a simple and pretty piece for your home!
There are affiliate links in this post. That means if you buy something from that link, I will earn a small commission, but it won’t cost you anything additional.
I started snooping around on her Pinterest boards to see if there was anything I could draw inspiration from. Boy was I in luck! I came across this photo…
However, the link for the silhouette painting from Pinterest was a dead one, it went to a blog that had been closed down. I did some searching but couldn’t find the source of this lovely painting.
Now here’s a funny story. I finished the painting a few days before Christmas, but because my daughter is a Facebook fan of Crafts by Amanda, I couldn’t share my results there for fear of her seeing it. So instead I shared the photo with a group of craft blogger friends. My friend Colleen from Just Paint It replied saying she was almost finished with a very similar painting using the same inspiration! How’s that for a coincidence?
Anyway, my daughter absolutely loved it and has it hanging in her room. I have to say I’m really happy with how it turned out and almost wish I had made two simultaneously so I could have one too!
Here’s the painting I made for her when she moved into her new place. This one is hanging in her living room. White Cherry Blossom Tree Painting.
I started out by grabbing a screenshot of the Pinterest inspiration and printed it off and used that as my template. I scored some lines on the picture to give me a better feel of placement on the canvas since I would need to draw freehand.
I used Americana acrylic paints for this silhouette painting. Here are the colors that I used:
I started by painting the canvas with Light Buttermilk then softening the center with Warm White. I wanted it to have a little texture in the middle so I used a household sponge, applied the paint a little heavy, and dragged the sponge through in a criss cross type pattern.
I used the sponge for the entire background starting with Flesh Tone. Just dabbed it here and there, really random but following the frame of the inspiration photo. Next I used Traditional Raw Sienna, dragging and blending with the sponge, just until I liked how it looked. For the highlights, mostly at the top with some at the bottom, I used Butterscotch. As you can see from the paint in the pie tin I was not concerned about my colors touching each other, in fact it’s good to have them mix a little. It adds to the flow and dimension of your painting.
I darkened the corner and edges with Dark Chocolate and finished off the edge shading with Black. Once the paint was dry I sketched on the main outline of the branches and the birds.
The rest is really easy. It’s just black, so use a long liner brush to add all the branches and the outline of the birds. Fill in the birds with a flat brush. Use the liner to add smaller branches and simple leaves.
That really is it! I hope you like this beautiful silhouette painting, I had a blast making it and surprising my daughter with it. You can find more adult crafts like this Dandelion Painting I did for inside my studio, might I add, it’s one of my favorites!
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Caroline Tutty says
Thank you Amanda for sharing this. I have been looking for a long time, to be shown how To do this. I can now try ??
Amanda Formaro says
So glad you like it Caroline, I hope you enjoy making it!
Tahlia Crosby says
Hi, i’m recreating your painting for my brother’s baby, but I’m not sure what to seal it with. Do you have a preference brand of spray matte sealer? Or do you use whatever’s you can buy? Also I love you art, I recreated your White Blossom Tree as my mum’s gift for Mother’s Day and I’m sure she’ll like it, but again, not sure what brand of sealer to use. Any help is much appreciated, and I love you work! Keep painting!
Amanda Formaro says
Hi Tahlia! There are a few brands that I tend to reach for simply because I know they have performed well for me before. I have used Plaid, Aleene’s and Americana. You can find them all here https://amzn.to/2JV47bV
Elys says
Hi Amanda,
I left a comment a few days ago, but I don’t see in the comment section.
So I’ll try again.
Why didn’t you seal this painting while you did seal the White cherry blossom tree painting.
Is there a reason why?
And can I use an acrylic sealer which has to be applied with a brush instead of an acrylic spray? Or will the brush strokes be visible?
Love your blog. Very inspiring.
Thanks.
Amanda Formaro says
Hi Elys, I was out on travel yesterday sorry for the late response. In hindsight, I probably should have used a sealer on this painting, however, it is still doing fine. If you choose to use an acrylic sealer, I would recommend a spray if you are able to find one. A brush on sealer will work fine as well, however you may run into an issue with brush strokes being visible. Just be sure to follow the directions on the bottle of whatever sealer you use! :)
James says
I’m having Trouble finding the color paints you used! Where were you able to locate these? :)
Amanda Formaro says
Hi, James! I’ve updated the post with links to each individual paint color. I hope that helps! :)
Richi says
Beautifully made and described !!
I follwed your steps into making my first ever canvas painting !
Thanks for the inspiration :)
Amanda Formaro says
That’s wonderful!
Alexis Mounce says
You inspired me and I followed your instructions. ..thank you! I was in my happy place for 3 hours. I posted mine on Facebook. I had issues with paint drying to fast but it was my first.
Alexis
Amanda Formaro says
Fantastic, so glad you enjoyed yourself! :)
Sharon says
Love this! What size canvas did you use?
Amanda Formaro says
I gave it to my daughter so I don’t have it here to measure it, but it’s probably 16×20 :)
Terri Hogarth says
did you prep your canvas before painting? Also, did you do anything after painting like modge podge to keep it??
Amanda Formaro says
Hi Terri. I didn’t prep the canvas, just started painting as shown in the step by step photos. I didn’t seal it, however if I had I would have used a spray acrylic sealer with a matte finish. Hope that helps!
Terri Hogarth says
Sure does…thanx
Kate says
I am so thankful I stumbled upon your website! Your craft and art pieces are beautiful! Cannot wait to try them all :)
Amanda Formaro says
Thanks so much Kate, very nice of you to say!
shamila patricia victor santiago says
you are so artistic,GOD BLESS YOU. You bring so much joy to others through your creative nature,thank you
Amanda Formaro says
Thank you so much Shamila! What an utterly lovely thing to say :) :)
Sheng says
I wnt to try this one.hope that i can make it well.Thanks for sharing it us. Your creations inspire me a lot. i love making arts. ^_^
More power!
thank you and god bless.^_^
Amanda Formaro says
Hope you enjoy making it Sheng!
TESS says
formidable, j’adore j’aimerais avoir votre talent. Je vous envoie un petit bonjour de Paris (France)
Jerusha says
Just wanted to let you know I made this for my hubby for our 8th wedding anniversary that we will be celebrating tomorrow. As soon as I seen it I knew I had to replicate it! I love it! I can’t wait to give it to him. Thank you so much for the supply list and easy to follow instructions. I am certain I would not have been able to pull it off without your directions.
Amanda says
Oh how fun! I hope he loves it! So glad my tutorial was helpful :)
Jerusha says
He loved it! Hands down one of thee best gifts I’ve given him. Its hanging in our bedroom. You rock!
Heidi says
Well done! No surprise that she loves it!
Lanie Cottrell says
I found the same painting online as your daughter’s original pin. It has been my wallpaper on my computer for over a year, and most recently was the inspiration for my tattoo. I originally found the painting on etsy.com. You did a beautiful job, and I’m tempted to give it a shot mself :)
Amanda says
Thanks so much Lanie!
Lina says
I love it! Very beautiful!
maaike says
heel erg mooi!
Kathy Gledsdale says
I adore this picture and as a struggling beginner artist and this is really helpful thank you for explaining how you did it.
nest of posies says
Amanda, this is beautiful!
you have so many wonderful talents. amazing work!!!
Alex says
This is lovely! Did she like it? Was she surprised?
Amanda says
Yes, she loved it and was very surprised!
diane says
I ‘m not an artist so I don’t know how much value you want to give my opinion however I love the painting and your tutorial makes it look as if I could do one myself! Thanks so much for sharing!
Linda says
Thanks for sharing…beautiful job.
Linda says
I remember seeing this on Pinterest as well. You did a great job! What suggestions would you have for someone to recreat this who is not comfortable/good at drawing freehand. I think the branches would be ok, but doubt I could do even the simple birds. I would appreciate any suggestion you might have to offer. Thanks!
Amanda says
Thanks Linda! I would suggest saving a copy of that picture to your harddrive. Then when you go to print out out, enlarge it to whatever size you want. You can use carbon transfer paper (they have specially made carbon paper at the craft store) to trace the pattern onto the canvas. Another option is to print it and cut out the birds, then just trace around the picture with pencil. You’ll be painting them so your pencil lines nor the carbon lines will be visible. Hope that helps!
Carrie says
I agree with Angie – You are one talented lady!! you do great work! Thanks for breaking down the process with us!
Cindy Eikenberg says
This is beautiful and I am sure it meant so much to your daughter! It was very kind of both of you to share this with us.
Angie @ Big Bear's Wife says
I NEED your talent!!! This is just beautiful. You’re daughter is one lucky lady!
Barbara says
Your piece of art is lovely. Immediately upon seeing it I have a feeling of peace and happiness. I love bird art anyway and I admire yours as one of the top pieces I have seen.
Have you ever thought of sponsoring a “weekend)(or 3 day) where your admirers would travel to a central destination and conduct a workshop? I would love to have a picture like this, but reading the directions just are not enough direction for me. If you couldn’t do the number of items you would like to offer, you could have quest artist teachers too. If these retail “paint for yourself” studio’s are popping up everywhere and having people come in for around 4 hours for everyone to paint the same scene, with an artists instructing them on each stage, you could get a lot accomplished in a 2-3 day workshop.
I am not a natural artist, just a person who is craving to be able to make some decent art pieces.
Thanks so much for being so kind to share with all of us. I truly admire you.
Thank you for your blog and projects. You have a great talent being able to relating to everyone and making us feel at ease! Thank you!
Happy New Year
Amanda says
Thanks so much Barbara! It has crossed my mind to do a class, but I live a solid 30 minutes from anywhere with a decent population, and over an hour from any major city. Therefore it would be too difficult for me to take the time off of work to do something like that. I do hope to stat doing videos more often and hopefully that will be helpful. A friend of mine is hosting a video painting class on Google + tonight in fact, and it’s of the same bird painting! She and I were both inspired by the same piece of art. Here’s the class link https://plus.google.com/u/0/events/cit9qbdilk8tceqd1k30p1kppfc?authkey=CNL0m5_j8YfTvgE