These easy watercolor cards really stand out with beautiful colors and a unique look that combines straight borders broken by cheerful flowers. Beginners loved their results with these easy watercolor cards for spring and summer.
Note: This lesson has two different Tutorials – one with tulips and spring flowers and one with white daisies (summer flowers). There are downloads and videos for each, but I’m only covering the instructions for the spring flowers as they’re very easy and a lot the same.
Downloads for Easy Watercolor Cards With Flowers
- Tulips 8 x 10 Outline
- Tulip Card Outline and Finished Painting
- White Daisies 8 x 10 Outline
- White Daisies Card Outline and Finished Painting
Materials Needed:
- Colors – Any basic colors work fine
- Paper – Paint on watercolor paper and glue or tape (double stick tape) paper to card
- Cards – I use Strathmore Creative Cards and Envelopes
Painting Steps
Step 1 – Draw or trace your outline onto your watercolor paper with graphite paper.
Step 2 – Apply masking tape.
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Apply masking tape to the outside of the paint line – on the top right, right side and bottom of your image.
If you’ve never used masking tape with your paper before, test it on a piece of scrap paper to be sure it won’t tear the paper when you pull it off.
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Step 3 – Paint the sky.
Mix a puddle of light blue paint. Test it and keep adding paint until it’s a concentrated color. No Wimpy Skies!
Paint the sky. Wet the sky with clean water. Then paint or drop in the blue and let it spread. Be sure to paint the area between the stems and small area on the left!
Dry well. You can remove the tape on the sky now if you’d like to see how it looks.
Step 4 – Paint the green areas.
Mix a puddle of darker green and a puddle of lighter, more yellow green.
Paint the green as shown in the photos, or however you like!
I painted the other areas with some dark purple, but feel free to use your own colors.
Step 5 – Paint the Pansies
This was the step that gave most student the hardest time. Paint the dark center first. Then paint a light color around the edges, leaving some white paint between the two areas.
Step 6 – Paint the Tulips
Mix a puddle of thick yellow and a smaller puddle of thick orange.
Paint the tulips yellow.
While still damp, add some orange to the bottom OR the middle of each tulip petal, as seen in the video.
Step 7 – Paint the centers and bottom flowers.
The bottom flowers can all be white with yellow centers, or leave a few white and paint the rest a color.
Paint the center of each flower with yellow, adding a line of orange at the bottom.
And here are some student paintings!
