Autumn Watercolor Painting for Beginners: Acorn & Maple Keys

Last Updated on October 1, 2026 by Dee

Autumn watercolor painting is the kindest place for a beginner to start, because autumn things forgive absolutely everything. A wobbly edge on an acorn just looks like an acorn. Today we’re painting two little autumn treasures: a shiny acorn with its oak leaves, and a pair of maple keys, the helicopter seeds that spin down from the trees.

The acorn template is free. Pop your email in just below and I’ll send it straight over, with a page of my paint notes, so you can print it and paint along with the video.

Get the free acorn watercolor template

Once it lands in your inbox, print it at 100% on A4 watercolour paper, then scroll down and paint along with the video.

What We’re Painting (and the Video)

A finished watercolor acorn with oak leaves and a pair of pale golden maple keys painted by Dee on printed templates — My finished acorn and maple keys, both painted straight onto printed templates.

The acorn teaches you the one trick that makes things look round: a single golden wash with a streak of white paper left bare. The maple keys teach you the opposite skill, restraint. Thin, watery colour, and knowing when to stop.

Both are printed straight onto watercolour paper, so there’s no drawing and no tracing. Here’s the whole lesson:

What You Need

The finished acorn and maple keys paintings beside the Holbein half pans used to paint them — Everything I used, next to the finished paintings.

Today it’s all my Holbein colours. You don’t need the same ones: here’s what kind of colour each one is, so you can find something similar in your own box.

Yellow ochre, a soft golden earth yellow, for the acorn.
Burnt umber, a deep, cool brown, for the shadow side and the cup.
Olive green for the little oak leaves.
A greenish yellow and burnt sienna (a warm, rusty brown) for the maple keys.
A round brush. Mine is a size 4.
The templates, printed onto watercolour paper, plus clean water and a bit of kitchen roll.

If you’d like the paints I used, this is the Holbein Artists’ watercolour set. Any golden earth yellow, a deep brown and a soft olive green will do exactly the same job. I mix on a ceramic palette (this one is similar).

Some links in this post are affiliate links. If you buy through them I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. I only link to things I actually use.

How to Paint an Acorn in Watercolor

Step 1: one golden wash and one white streak

Painting a yellow ochre wash over the acorn and leaving a streak of white paper for the highlight — Yellow ochre over the nut, with a thin streak of paper left white.

Wash yellow ochre over the main part of the acorn and leave one thin streak of white paper down the side. That little streak is what makes it look round and shiny. Don’t fill it in “just a bit”. Leave it.

Step 2: a wet shadow

Dropping burnt umber into the top of the acorn while the ochre wash is still wet — Burnt umber touched into the top while the ochre is still wet.

While the ochre is still wet, pick up some burnt umber and touch it into the top of the acorn. It melts down into the yellow on its own and gives you a lovely soft shadow without a single hard line.

Step 3: the cup, and its texture

Dabbing stronger burnt umber onto the acorn cup to paint its little scales — A pale wash first, then stronger umber dabbed on with a fairly dry brush.

Lay a light, general wash of the same burnt umber over the cup. When it’s just damp, load more umber onto your brush, dab off the extra water on your kitchen roll, and paint in the little scales. A drier brush gives you crisp, bumpy texture instead of a blur.

Step 4: olive leaves

Painting the small oak leaves and stem in olive green — Olive green for the leaves, with a little burnt umber on the edges.

While the cup dries, paint olive green into the leaves and the stem, then touch a little burnt umber onto some of the edges so they look properly autumnal.

Step 5: soften the highlight, then glaze

Glazing more burnt umber over the dry acorn to deepen the shadow side — Once it’s completely dry, a second layer of umber deepens the shadows.

If your white streak looks a bit harsh, take a clean damp brush over its edge and gently scrub a little of the ochre across it. Then, and this is the hard part, let the acorn dry properly. Once it’s dry, glaze a little more burnt umber over the shadow areas to give it depth.

A finished watercolor acorn in yellow ochre and burnt umber with a white highlight and two small olive oak leaves — The finished acorn. This is the free template.

How to Paint Maple Keys

These are maple keys, the little helicopters that spin down from the trees. This one is all about restraint.

Step 1: a thin, watery wash on the wings

Painting a thin watery greenish yellow wash on the maple key wings — Really thin, really watery. You should be able to see the paper through it.

A really thin, watery wash of greenish yellow on the papery wings. Resist the urge to add more. The paler they are, the lighter they look.

Step 2: warm seeds

Painting the maple key seeds in watery burnt sienna so they melt into the wings — Watery burnt sienna on the seeds, touching the wings so they melt into each other.

Paint the seeds in a watery burnt sienna, a warm rusty brown, and let it touch the wings. Where the two meet they melt into a soft golden olive. Mix a little of your greenish yellow into the sienna for the bit in between. And that’s it. Less paint, and it looks light enough to fly.

Finished watercolor maple keys with pale greenish yellow wings and warm rusty seeds — The finished maple keys.

Why Autumn Is the Kindest Place to Start

Autumn subjects are wonderfully forgiving. Nobody knows exactly what shape your acorn should be, colours that bleed into each other just look like the season, and a slightly wobbly leaf edge is more convincing than a perfect one. It’s the best time of year to stop worrying about getting it right.

Leave the white. One streak of bare paper does more than any amount of careful shading.
Add the dark while it’s wet for soft shadows, and after it’s dry for crisp ones.
Dry brush for texture. Dab the water off before you paint the acorn cup.
Stop early on anything papery. Wings, petals and seed pods all look better under-painted.

If you’d like more autumn ideas once these are dry, my fall watercolor painting ideas post has twelve cosy subjects to try next, and watercolor for beginners is the place to start if you’re brand new.

The Full Autumn Leaves & Acorns Set

The acorn is one of nineteen. Autumn Leaves & Acorns is my set of nineteen autumn templates drawn as soft pencil outlines: the maple keys from the video, English and sessile oak leaves, sugar and red maple leaves, beech, sycamore, a conker in its case, sweet chestnut, beech mast, ash keys, hawthorn, walnut and more. Every one is an A4 template at 300 DPI, as a single PDF and as separate PNGs.

It’s £8, yours to keep: see all 19 autumn templates.

And if you’d love a new set to paint every month, that’s what my watercolour members get over on Patreon. Or browse all my watercolour templates in the shop.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the acorn template really free?

Yes. Put your email in the box near the top of this post and the PDF comes straight to your inbox: a cover, the acorn template itself, a page of my paint notes and a peek at the full set.

What paper should I print it on?

Watercolour paper if your printer will take it, fed through one sheet at a time. Print at 100% on A4 with “fit to page” turned off.

Is the maple keys template free too?

The maple keys are part of the full Autumn Leaves & Acorns set. The free template is the acorn.

Do I need Holbein paints?

No. Any golden earth yellow, a deep brown, an olive green, a greenish yellow and a warm rusty brown from a student set will paint these beautifully.

Can I sell the paintings I make?

You’re welcome to sell the paintings you make by hand. Please don’t sell or share the template files themselves.

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20 DIY autumn watercolor paintings for more autumn subjects

Final Thoughts

Print the acorn tonight and paint along with the video. Then come back and tell me how it went. I’d genuinely love to see yours.

If this was your speed, subscribe to my YouTube channel for a new paint-along every week, and come and say hello on Pinterest. Pin this for later so you can find the steps again when your paint is out.

Happy painting!
Dee x

Get the free acorn watercolor template

Table of Contents

What We’re Painting (and the Video)

What You Need

How to Paint an Acorn in Watercolor