How to Paint Frozen

     I recently returned from Disney and was amazed at the amount of Elsa’s I saw all around.  They rode the bus with us, stalked the corridors of our hotel, rode Soaring with us, and ate dinner at Le Cellier.  My girls are now past the “dressing up as the Princess” stage, but it sure was cute to look at!  I was almost inspired to buy a tiara, but instead I painted this picture.  You can take this as a class with me (it’s a Canvas Club Art or you can schedule a private party) or do it at home!  Here’s how I did it:

How to Paint Frozen

1. Draw in where the mountains are, as well as Elsa.  I drew Elsa, but you could trace her from a coloring book or print a picture off the internet to use. Choose several shades of blue.  I like to have black and white out so I can also mix in as needed.   Using a flat brush, start painting from the tops of the mountains up, in smooth, straight strokes.  Don’t worry about being perfect around the edges.  The purple mountains should cover it up.  While paint is wet, mix in your next darkest color.  I painted this color all the way to the top and then while the paint was wet, add in a SMALL amount of black.  If the colors aren’t blending as much as you like, clean your brush and wipe away most of the water with a towel.  With this clean and mostly dry brush, blend colors from the bottom up.

2. Use 2 or more different shades of purple to paint in your mountains.  You may need several coats of paint.  If the blue sky is showing through too much, paint a coat of white, let it dry, and then paint the purple.  Use light blue and white painted across in horizontal strokes to paint in the snowy ground below the mountains.  Paint the snow behind Elsa white.

3. Next, pick several shades of blue and white paint to make Elsa’s dress. I load a round brush up with one blue and white and paint long strokes from the peak of her dress all the way down to the bottom of the canvas.

4. I made Elsa’s head and arms out of scrapbook paper. I cut them out, then painted in the hands with flesh color and added dark yellow along the side of her braid for dimension. I used Mod Podge to attach it, but Elmer’s glue spread out all over the back works also.Use blue and purple to make some texture on your mountains:  load up a LITTLE bit of paint on your brush, and brush some off on a paper towel.  This is called “dry brushing”.  Dry brush some paint in short strokes from the peak down, angling down in a triangle fashion.  Use a stencil and stencil a snowflake above Elsa.  Use the end of your brush (not the brush side) to paint dots of white for snow on your art. I also used glitter glaze over the white snow and glitter glue lines down Elsa’s dress. Good luck!