How to Paint a Classic Winter Boot

I think you all know how much I love painting with watercolors! I thought it would be fun to share how to paint a classic winter boot.

Growing up, I always remember my dad wearing these classic boots and this project is inspired by him. My dad’s boots were unlined though.

I painted this winter boot for our holiday collection and this painting is my favorite one in the collection for that reason.

How to Paint a Classic Winter Boot

I really enjoyed painting this boot and I’m excited to share the process with you! I’m going to detail the materials I used but don’t feel like you need to go out and buy new products. Use what you have.

I mostly use Daniel Smith watercolors because I love the colors and the paints. I always get beautiful results with them. I’m also a big fan of Princeton Velvetouch synthetic brushes. I love that you can get a really fine point with them. The paper I usually use is Canson XL watercolor paper because it doesn’t have lots of texture. This is important to me because I scan my watercolors in to create stationery, wallpaper, and fabric. Having a heavily textured paper, like Arches makes scanning more challenging.

Materials for Painting This Watercolor Boot

These are the materials I used for this painting:

• Watercolor paper (Canson XL Paper)
• Pencil (I like using a mechanical pencil or Blackwing)
• Plastic Eraser
• Round Brushes (sizes 6, 4, and 2 – I like Princeton Velvetouch)
• Flat Brush
• Gelly Roll Pen
• Clean water (I use recycled glass yogurt pots)
• Watercolor Palette ( I like this one because it closes)
• Watercolor Paints (colors I used mostly by Daniel Smith)
  • Yellow Ochre
  • Raw Sienna
  • Sepia
  • Burnt Tigers Eye
  • Raw Umber
  • Hookers Green
  • Indigo
  • Payne’s Gray

Some Tips Using Watercolor

Watercolor dries ten percent lighter so you want to be aware of that when painting. It might look perfect when it’s wet but it will dry lighter.

Work in layers going from lights to dark.

You can speed up drying time by using a hair dryer or if you want to let it dry naturally it’s a great time to take a tea break.

Sometimes the watercolor can trap pencil lines in so I always draw lightly with pencil. I share more tips in the video below.

Video Tutorial for Painting a Winter Boot in Watercolor

I’m a visual learner and always do better with videos. I created a video of the process. My painting is sped up a bit and I’ve done a voice over to narrate the process.

More of My Winter Boot

One thing I love to do with my watercolors is scan them into my computer and use photoshop to remove the white background to create products with them.

This boot became November for our 2024 desk calendar:

List pads and stickers:

Note cards:

And the softest flour sack cloth tea towel:

More Watercolor Posts You Might Enjoy

If you’re new to watercolor these posts may be helpful:

• Must Have Watercolor Materials
• Favorite Watercolor Papers
• Favorite Watercolor Brushes
• For the Creative Entrepreneur
• Free Printables
• How to Paint Watercolor Bookmarks
• How to Paint Mini Seascapes

Let me know what other posts you might enjoy – either as tutorials or the more technical side of making products from your creations.

Let’s Stay in Touch

I’d love to hear if this post and video were helpful. What other things would you enjoy painting together? Share your paintings with me! I’d love to see what you create!

Be sure to pin this for later:

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