Needle Felting Lesson: Spooky Trees
step by step tutorialSpooky Trees Materials List
Felting needles
Sturdy foam or wool pad
Prepared base panel of felted wool
Background sky color blend
Yellow and silvery blue wool for the moon
Core wool for the foreground
Black or navy blue wool for ground & trees
Welcome to the needle felting lesson: Spooky Trees. Together we’ll work throughout the process of felting a background layer, then adding in a silhouette foreground and treeline over a glowing Halloween moon. Thank you for sharing this journey with me. This lesson was originally recorded in September 2024.
Felting Your Background
We’re starting with the prepped fiber base and the first step will be to felt the blended batt of our background color onto the base.
Adding the Silhouette Ground
In this video lesson, we add a small amount of core wool to the foreground so the dark silhouette ground pops slightly off the surface of the base layer.
Felting a Glowy Moon
In this video lesson, I slowly layer in whispy fibers to create a Halloween glow around the moon.
Let the Spooky Trees Begin!
In this video lesson, we add two gnarly spooky trees.
Felting a Flying Witch Silhouette
In this video lesson, we slowly add a silhouette of a spooky witch flying across the sky
Silhouette Reference Images
Whether you’re composing a landscape scene, depicting an object, or capturing the essence of a character, having reference images is a useful (and standard) tool to keep handy in your toolbox. There are times that I go it alone with only my imagination, but the illustrations I create with the aid of reference photos tend to rise a notch or two above others in their level of detail and cohesion. Here are a few silhouettes for you to choose from as inspiration and guidance if you choose to add a flying witch soaring above your spooky trees.
BONUS Lesson: Felting Roots with Depth & Shadows
In this bonus video lesson, we transform the puffy foreground of dark earth into dips and crevices to add curvy roots.
Image Gallery: Spooky Trees
The best way to make trees spooky is to add a LOT of bendy angles, curves, and kinks. Here is a gallery of still images capturing the process of adding a third tree and felting the spooky branches.
Viewing Tip: Click on the first image and then scroll through the enlarged format, you’re able to see everything much better.
Meet Your Instructor
Hi, my name is Hillary Dow. A few of my many hats include mother, wife, traveler, outdoor adventurer, author, family chef, marketing professional, felting artist in Maine, and oh so many more. I write children’s books illustrated with my wool creations. I picked up my first felting needle about five years ago and it wasn’t long before I realized I had finally found MY medium! Like any labor of love, I simply keep going to learn more while honing my skills. It is such a thrill to be a part of helping someone develop their skills and CREATE artwork. Thank you for joining me!
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