Maud Lewis Art Project

Maud Lewis was known for her bright and cheerful folk art. Despite being poor all her life, living in a tiny house and being in almost constant pain from her arthritis, her paintings are always happy and full of joy and colour.

Maud Lewis created her paintings from the background forward. Her scenes usually include trees, animals and flowers. Although her paintings are childlike, she had a good grasp of perspective, so try to make your foreground objects bigger than your background ones. Try to keep it simple and notice that, while her paintings aren't detailed, the subjects are instantly recognisable. Sketch out your scene in pencil. You'll be painting in the background in block colours, but you should just be able to see the sketch underneath. Just in case, make a copy of your sketch and keep this for reference. 

Next, use a light blue to paint a beautiful clear sky.

Paint a bright yellowish-green as the grassy landscape and, while this paint is still wet, add a slightly darker green to give the impression of shadows. Wait for the paint to dry before moving on to the next step. 

Start adding smaller details, without sketching them first. Paint colourful flowers – tulips, daisies and dandelions. Use a darker green to paint the stems and leaves. 

Paint trees with dark brown trunks and branches, then dab the paintbrush with some different shades of green for the leaves. Maybe add some trees along the horizon line too!

Maud Lewis frequently painted deer into her pictures. Use a light brown for the main shape of the deer, adding a slightly darker shade for the two legs on the farther side of the deer. When that is dry, add white around the eyes, nose, neck and under the tail, and white spots on the upper body (if it's a fallow deer!). Use black for the eyes, nose and hooves and a yellow-brown for the face.

Maud Lewis.