Take Pictures Of Your Window Painting Themes

Take Pictures Of Your Window Painting Themes 

Animals and Standard Holiday Fare

Gotta love those Christmas critters! These are the penguins I painted several years ago. Snow play is a popular scene in window painting themes. Whether you are using animals or people, dressing up a window with snow scenes using paint can be a great substitute for the real thing. Here you see three birds in their winter gear enjoying the slopes and taking time out to play and linger for the holidays. The names are the owner's pets. I love the trees in this scene and the look on penguin Montego's face. He certainly looks like he is having a good time. The advantage of this art is it is original. The scene will be removed after the first of the year come January. I am grateful I had a disposable camera with me when I finished the painting or I would not have this image design to share with you now.

Buy a good camera to bring with you. After the painting is finished, snap several shots from angles to the right, left, full center and from far away. If you have a lot of glass left on the window after you have painted, watch the glare from the flash mode with your camera. You will need to step to one side or the other to avoid having the flash wash out the picture. Choose good lighting in the afternoon for the best quality images.

Get close ups of the details so that you may mark this down in your drawing and image journal. Note which details to keep and which to repeat again. Although this particular image will not be painted again unless I repeat in similar fashion, it can be used as inspiration for future window paintings.

Snow playing penguins - window painting

Santa Claus Paintings

Santa is another great image to alter and paint doing things other than over seeing the toy shop or making the rounds on Christmas Eve. I have him in all sorts of situations. Below the scene shows him having his hair cut by the local North Pole barber elf. I think the elf is doing a fine job of it. The little guy is perched carefully on a ladder and doing his best to trim Santa up for the big night. Santa has to look right and I think he is happy with his barber. What do you think? I think I am again glad I had a good camera with me to preserve this image!

Santa At the North Pole Barber Shop(1)

Santa At the North Pole Barber Shop (2) closeup

Getting the details saved from this scene took a bit of editing so I could look a bit closer at the whole image. With the smirk on Santas face and the elf, I can repeat this one with more details at a later date. Preserve as much of your art as you can. It is temporary and will be disappearing after the New Year. This is something you must get used to if you want to paint for the holidays. 

For more information, supplies and materials see:

So, You Want To Paint Holiday Windows on Squidoo. or visit www.holidaywindowpaint.com to buy the beginner's tutorial, The Essential Window Painting Guide.

What animal or character would you like to paint for the holidays? 

The Essential Window Painting Guide

A journey into the experiences that brought me to this point can be found in The Essential Window Painting Guide.

The Essential Window Painting Guide

I originally wanted to sell this from a popular publishing site, but the process for formatting has gotten too crazy for me to finish before the season and it was not as easy as they make it out to be. I am an ARTIST, not a programmer. I am still learning about this. Currently the book is available as a PDF. To get your copy visit the site: www.holidaywindowpaint.com 

I am still trying to work all the kinks out of this process so if it doesn't work immediately, email me at info@mariaburgess.com and I will jump right on the issue.

I am exploring different areas on my own with the book sales. I am in territory no one can really help me on or will if I can't pay for the assistance.

Going through all of this has been a huge learning curve and I am grateful, believe it or not, when something does go wrong. It means I can get that situation fixed and wait for the next debacle. It is kind of like a painting that looks great and when you turn your back on it one nice drip forms and runs right down the area that you just detailed to perfection! It is and can be maddening, but it is all part of the experience. These issues like window painting can be fixed easily if you are patient and have a steady hand...

There are quite a few tricks you need to know about if you want to decorate your windows. The project can be a mess if you do not follow the right steps.

Halloween Sketch Designs

Most folks only want Christmas painted on their windows, but what fun they are missing with the Halloween decorations! 

This is my buddy Spiderhead. He is a holiday candle holder and a temporary home for a tarantula...

There are many great ideas to use when painting windows for any holiday. I have a great little sticker set that I have saved for years to give me ideas on details to use when designing a window set. There are too many cute things to paint and I generally start with a generic base of forms and figures and set a detailed image like this as the key image. Sometimes I get a little carried away and detail everything. It all depends on my mood.

Believe it or not I use only a mechanical pencil when I am doing my doodles or scribbles. I don't like just random creatures or line drawing. If I am putting pencil to paper I will be creating something that will highlight the images I love and the art that has been with me throughout my life. Taking these out of the sketch book eventually they will be placed alongside a photograph image of the final painted scene. Eventually these will serve as my life portfolio. Sharing with my children and grandkids down the line is part of documenting these funny pictures. 

Now, this character can be just the skull and the candle or several varieties of images. When the sketches started to be assembled I decided that I wanted every detail associated with the separate features of the images included. This way I can pick out the ones that will be highlighted in the final window painting and leave the rest behind. If I were to paint this in a permanent manner I would detail it completely.


With window paintings for holidays, a general form idea is ok as they will be scraped off the window panes about a month later and discarded. That used to really sadden me watching my art go down the drain. With the sketches and a camera handy, I can still have them in spirit! =)

Pro-Art Canson Universal Sketch Paper Pad 11x14": 100 Sheets

More about window painting:

So, You Want To Paint Holiday Windows?