I love spring and Easter art because the seasonal colors just scream “happy”! Easter is also a season of hope, and the colors convey that sentiment as well. Here’s a beautiful, large cross painting that I made with fun spring colors as an Easter sign. Learn how you can make one too, and even teach others to do the same.
I love decorating for spring and making spring art. After a dreary winter, spring makes me feel alive! And there’s something about Easter that tugs at my heart – God is SO kind, y’all!!!!
Oversized Cross Painting for Easter
I’ve created this Easter painting before, but this is the first time I am doing it this BIG! How big? Well, I’m creating the design on an Easter wood sign that’s a 24″x48″ piece of plywood. Painting on a piece of wood this large is so much fun.
Stencils are Key to Fun Art
I love using kits of stencils. There are so many fun designs out there, and they really eliminate the pressure of painting a design by hand. I use stencils all the time to get a clean, professional-looking design easier and faster.
And I think they’re so beneficial that I don’t just use stencils for my own paintings. I also use them for my in-person paint parties! I have noticed that other people really find them helpful too so I usually try to have at least one stencil for every two customers at my paint party events.
Wondering where to find great stencils? You can check out my favorite stencil brand, Essential Stencils:
Feel free to use coupon code TEXASHEIDI for a discount, too!
How to Make a Cross Painting Easter Sign
I used a lot of fun acrylic paint colors on this Easter cross painting design, and I loved how it turned out!
Start with the Base
I like to get those base colors for the scene and background on the board first so they can dry. Starting at the bottom of my plywood, I used brown to get that hill on the left corner of the board.
Once I got that shape down, I added in my yellow, orange, red, and magenta to start layering the colors of the sky from lighter yellow and orange and progressively getting darker and I headed to the top of the board.
Then I used primary blue along with solid black to create that dark top part of the design. With the exception of the brown, blend the colors together a little as you paint from the bottom of the board to the top.
Tip: When you paint on plywood, it’s important to dip your brush into your water to help blend the colors and spread the paint on the wood. You can see how I do that in the video tutorial down below!
Add the Cross
Now with a smaller brush, it’s time to add the cross to the painting. I’m starting with some brown and adding a simple cross painting rising up from around the top of my brown hill.
Because I’m painting wet on top of wet, as I pull the cross down with my brush in multiple layers, I start pulling in those other base colors which creates a cool, fun effect! Then do a quick dark shadow outline with a touch of gold paint over top to make that cross pop.
Easter Sign Lettering
It’s time to whip out the gold paint to create the Easter lettering, and I’m mixing it with just a bit of white. The key to this stenciling is to DAB the paint on there. Using the Essential Stencils dabber makes a sharper edge, but if you have to use a brush, you can take an edging brush and clean up the edges as needed.
Watch me Make this Cross Painting on a Facebook Live
I made a Facebook live showing you step by step how I made this Easter sign and it even shows you some fun tricks for blending and to add depth as you go. You’ll see just how simple but fun this project is!
Make This Cross Painting with a Group of Friends
You know what makes this Easter painting even more special? If you gather a group of friends and family members, and teach them how to paint this one with you! Not only will you get to spend time together (in person or online), but you’ll bless those around you with your skills.
Learn more about how to teach paint parties online and in person in Paint Party Headquarters!
