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Watercolor Technique – Warm Colored Monsters

Monsters are a fun way to put some color theory to use in your art lessons with kids. This cute guy is the warm-colored monster I created using watercolors, oil pastels, and plastic wrap. This watercolor technique will have students saying ooh and ahh as they lift the plastic off their painted monsters.

Monster Drawing & Oil Pastels

 
I used a Monster Roll & Draw Page to get started with my drawing.
 
outlining the monster with orange oil pastels
 
After going over my pencil lines with a sharpie marker, I used oil pastels to color in small areas and outlined the larger areas. The oil pastel keeps more watercolor inside the lines when you apply the plastic wrap because the plastic wrap sometimes pushes the paint around.
 
 
 

Add Watercolor Paint

 
painting the monster with orange watercolor
 
 
 
 

What are Warm & Cool Colors? 

I painted the monster using more “warm colors” after using the oil pastels.

What are warm colors?


Warm colors, like red, orange, and yellow, remind us of the sun and fire. Artists use warm colors to give a picture a warm feeling.

Cool colors like blue, purple, and green remind us of cool water and shadows. Artists use cool colors to give a picture a cool feeling.

 
 
 

Plastic Wrap Watercolor Technique

 
Warm Colored Monster with wet paint for this watercolor technique that uses plastic wrap to teach about warm and cool colors. - Warm Colors - Color Art Lesson Idea - Painted Monster Lesson
 
 

Make sure the paint is still wet  when you apply the plastic wrap. 

monster with wet watercolors and plastic wrap laying on the wet watercolor
 
 
After I finished painting, I applied the plastic wrap. This plastic is the kind of plastic wrap sold in a grocery store for covering food. First, I made sure the plastic wrap had some wrinkles in it.
If it’s not wrinkled when you first put it down, then you can carefully move it around with your fingers.

The plastic wrap will need to stay in place until the paint is dry.
Drying could take several hours. Therefore, don’t plan on removing the watercolor during the same art class as you painted.

Waiting is always the hardest part!
 
 

Finished Warm & Cool Monsters

 
a close up of the texture on the warm colored monster a close up of the texture on the cool colored monster
 
 
Here are two examples of the kind of texture in watercolor you can get after you lift the plastic wrap. I didn’t outline the purple monster with oil pastels, and as a result, you can see that the paint bled into the white of the eyes and teeth. If this doesn’t bother you, then you can skip the oil pastel step.
 
Crayons will also do the same thing as oil pastels. However, you will need to push a little harder with the crayons than the oil pastels to ensure that you apply the crayon heavily.

I hope you have fun creating a textured monster with this watercolor technique using plastic wrap.

 

Questions

  • Have you ever tried making a watercolor resist with oil pastels?
  • Will you use warm or cool colors?
  • Do you need some inspiration to make monster drawings?
 
 

Here are some fun monster drawing sets:

The Benefits of Drawing

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Use this infographic to display in your room or share with parents, administrators, or other teachers as a way to point out some of the academic benefits of learning to draw. While they are not the only reason for using drawing as part of a balanced curriculum, they are certainly worthy of celebrating and may help you advocate for including drawing as part of your art or classroom learning experiences.

You can read more about The Benefits of Drawing in this blog post.


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Don’t forget to pin this!

A close-up of a cartoon monster showing the eye and ear. The shapes of the orange and red monster were outlined with oil pastel before being painted with watercolor. Plastic wrap was laid on the wet watercolor to create a texture. The text says, "Technique Demo - Warm-Colored Monster - Plastic Wrap Technique".
Stacey Peters

Stacey Peters

I create engaging drawing resources that help students build confidence and express themselves through art. I'm a former elementary art teacher of 25 years turned business owner. Giving you the tools you need to bring more drawing into your classroom brings me joy.

2 Responses

  2. You certainly could. But I used drawing paper. Watercolor paper would have stayed a little flatter. Thanks for your question. I need to get my notification email updated….sorry for the delayed response!

    Reply

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