Create beautiful art with sand painting. Use colored sand to create a mountain landscape. This simple project even includes a free pattern!

Lately I have been inspired by Navajo Sand Painting and decided to create a beautiful landscape sand painting that emulates the amazing techniques practiced by the Navajo. This project is a lot of fun to make using brightly colored sand.

What is Navajo Sand Painting?

Usually created in connection with healing ceremonies, sand paintings are symbolic pictures created by trickling small amounts of sand or other dry materials. The sand is colored with natural materials and the paintings are symbolic representations of stories in Navajo mythology

We are currently in Arizona and recently visited the Navajo Nation where I was inspired by their beautiful sand paintings. I decided to create landscape art that is loosely based on their technique. For this project I used colored sand and glue and created my own sand painting. And I am including the free pattern if you would like to try it too!

What you need:

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Supplies Needed:

These are the ingredients you’ll need. All the exact amounts are in the printable card at the bottom of this post.

Sand Painting Tips:

Use acrylic paint to paint background color.

Paint a Base Color on the wood

Using a nice blue, paint the top and sides of the wooden plaque. Allow the paint to fully dry before going to the next step.

Trace the pattern

Use carbon transfer paper to trace the landscape pattern onto the painted wood.

Add Glue to a section

Start at the top of the picture and add glue to one section using a brush, being sure to keep within the lines. I found it a little easier to spread the glue by adding just a few drops of water to the glue before brushing it on.

Add the colored sand

The colored sand that I used for this project came in small plastic bottles that were perfect for easy application of the sand. Choose a color for the section that you are working on and then add a thick coating of colored sand. Once all the glued area is covered, gently tap the extra sand off of the project.

Adding an additional area of colored sand.

Move onto the next section (working your way from top to bottom), repeating the two steps above.

Working on the smaller Sections

I found that using a smaller brush helped to add in the smaller details of the sand painting. Simply follow the easy steps above as you work down to the bottom of the landscape art.

Experiment with bright colors! A mix of beautiful colors adds depth and interest to your sand painting.

Landscape art with all colors of sand added.

Once all the sand has been applied, allow the project to dry before going to the next step.

Using black acrylic paint to add outlines to the landscape.

Adding an outline to the sand painting

If we were doing this project in the true Navajo style, we would then outline with a thin layer of black sand. This requires a whole lot of skill. Since this is an emulation of the style, I chose to create the outlines with black acrylic paint.

Sand Painting; Landscape art using colored sand.

The finished piece of art is a bright happy landscape. I plan on adding a row of hooks to the bottom and use this as a key holder in my rv. I think it will not only brighten up the room, but be very useful at the same time.

Create a beautiful landscape with colored sand and glue!

Mountain landscape painted with colored sand

Print Instructions Pin for Later

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