Free Art Class: Let's Create a Papel Picado Inspired Banner

Free

Free Art Class: Let's Create a Papel Picado Inspired Banner

Join me for a free, self-paced online art class where we will be inspired by the Mexican folk art tradition of papel picado ("perforated or pecked paper") and create a colorful banner celebrating the season.

Note: Videos for free art classes are created using recordings from the “live” Zoom session. All attendees faces and names are omitted from the videos.

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Class Summary

The colorful Mexican folk art of cutting elaborate designs from sheets of tissue paper known as papel picado has been a tradition dating back many years. In many towns across Mexico, one can find the brightly colored papel picado banners draped across streets in celebration of numerous holidays and occasions.

Inspired by this beautiful art form, instead of using scissors and tissue paper, we will watercolor and draw a design to create a banner to celebrate the month.

Papel Picado Banners Strung Across a Street in Sayulita, Mexico

Class Details

Included in Class

This class will teach an easy, approachable and fun way to create a watercolor banner inspired by papel picado. We will keep our supplies limited, and focus on painting 3 small pendants in a single color each. Once we've finished with watercolor, we will use a white paint pen to add our design. When complete, we will string the pendants together to make a colorful banner we can hang in our home.

Note: Videos for free art classes are created using recordings from the “live” Zoom session. All attendees faces and names have been omitted from the video for privacy.

Art Supply List

To create the art in this class, you will need the following supplies:

3 roughly 5"x7" (or 4"x6") watercolor papers (you can cut up a larger sheet to make up three equally sized rectangular pendants)
watercolor set
brush or water brush to paint watercolors
white paint pen* and/or white gel pen
ribbon & hole punch

*A white paint pen will be better for this project as it typically has a thicker point and is more opaque than a gel pen. I love the brand Uni POSCA but there are many other white acrylic paint pens on the market that will do just as good of a job.

Introduction

Join me for in this free online art class where we will get inspired by the Mexican folk art tradition of papel picado ("perforated or pecked paper") and watercolor a colorful banner to celebrate the season. In this section we will learn about the inspiration for this class as well as art supplies needed to complete the project.

Note: Videos for free art classes are created using recordings from the “live” Zoom session. All participants faces and names are omitted from the videos.

Papel Picado Inspired Banner Introduction.MOV

Papel Picado Inspired Banner Inspiration.MOV

Papel Picado Inspired Banner Art Supplies.MOV

Create a Papel Picado Inspired Banner

In this section you can follow along as I paint and draw our papel picado inspired banner. Feel free to pause or speed up parts to the pace you are creating your art.

Note: Videos for free art classes are created using recordings from the “live” Zoom session. All participants faces and names are omitted from the videos.

Papel Picado Inspired Banner Paint the Banner.MOV

Papel Picado Inspired Banner Draw Motifs.MOV

Papel Picado Inspired Banner String the Banner.MOV

Conclusion

Conclusion and more creative ideas inspired by this project.

Papel Picado Inspired Banner Conclusion.MOV

Resources

Here are some fun links to check out to get inspired by the beautiful Mexican folk art tradition of papel picado.

Movie Credits to the Film Coco

Wikipedia: Papel Picado

Creative Projects Inspired by Mexico