Watercoloring until the Rain Stops and the Rainbow Appears! Watercoloring tips

With all of the rain we were having here in Pennsylvania this weekend, I was inspired to bring out my paint brushes and play with some watercoloring tips and techniques.

I don’t often do much watercoloring. I can be a bit messy in my small craft closet! So when my inks and brushes emerge and I fill my beaker with water, you can bet I’m going to play for awhile and create more than just a single card!

Here’s a few watercoloring tips I find useful to get started:

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First Watercoloring tip: Find colors that work well together!

Whether they are different shades in a single color ombré, or a full rainbow, try to select colors in a similar family.

Watercoloring Tip 2:

Play around to test how much ink is necessary to make the colors as bright as you want. Use your brush to grab a little ink, and put it on the back side of your ink pad holder or small plate. Then dip your brush into your water, and add a small amount to your ink.

Watercoloring Tip 3:

This is your card, so you can put the colors wherever you want! I made a background with these colors brushed across, and another where they were splashed and dripping down.

Watercoloring Tip 4:

Do you want more “flow” with your colors? Add water to your paper, and then add your inks. This will further dilute your ink colors, so be sure to add enough ink to get your desired brightness.

Watercoloring Tip 5 (not so basic!!):

Embossing an image will resist watercolors (check out this dandelion card tutorial on how to achieve this easy technique). I started pulling out a few fun stamp sets that would feature this effect well. Here’s what I came up with:

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I’m playing along with a few challenges today:

• The Crafting Paint Card in the CAS splash watercolour July Challenge
• The Birthday card in the HLS July watercolour Challenge and Inkspirational Birthday
• The coffee card in the Double D Tea and/or Coffee challenge.
• The Sheltering Tree card in the Stamping Sensations In My Garden and AAA Cards Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
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There’s always a rainbow after a storm. Happy Crafting!

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After seeing these basic watercoloring tips, are you interested in getting the right tools for your own watercolor cards? Check them out below!

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