Easy Watercolor Art Tutorial

I’m going to be up front with you here: this easy watercolor art tutorial is only going to be easy if you are willing to obtain art masking fluid. The reason I am putting this in the first paragraph is I think it’s the worst when you’re lured to a blog post about making, I don’t know, the “easiest DIY coffee table ever”, only to find out you need a bunch of specialized and expensive tools.

The difference between this tutorial and the theoretical Easiest DIY Coffee Table Ever tutorial is the fact that all you need to do this is a cheap set of watercolors {which hopefully you already have}, and a $10.00 bottle of art masking fluid. Maybe you already have some; stranger things have happened. I didn’t, but I knew I had to get some after reading this tutorial. I reasoned with myself: “Lindsey, would you rather have art masking fluid, or a $10 Chipotle burrito?” {I make many of my financial decisions this way … it’s kind of strange.} Art masking fluid lasts longer, so I went with that.

Basically, this stuff is like a face mask for paper. You paint it on, then once it dries {in about two minutes}, it protects the paper from your paint. When it has fulfilled its purpose, it even peels off like a face mask. It’s actually intended to help watercolor artists to not paint over areas that need to be pure white — like reflections from the light on glass. Honestly, I don’t see why it wouldn’t work for other kinds of paints, too, like acrylic. It’s just nice to have around, and not too pricey. And it’s the only thing in this tutorial that you {probably} don’t already have.

That said, you can create a quick little project by printing out something like “HELLO!” on a piece of paper. I used the {free and wonderful} font Bebas Neue. You can make a printout like this in Word, Photoshop, Gimp, whatever, really … or, if you don’t have a printer, you can freehand some letters.

Next, you’ll turn your word or phrase face down onto a piece of watercolor paper — this one was cut to 5″x7″. Use little strips of tape to secure it; I used four, one in each corner.

For the next step, I tapped into my inner resourceful DIY-er and taped the “HELLO!” printout and watercolor paper to the window. The watercolor paper part needs to face you if you do this; the printout will be the side that’s against the window. Check out how incredibly easy it is to see the outline! {Alternatively, you can use a light box; but the window is quick, cheap, and easy.}

Now, open your art masking fluid. It’s very thin; it has the consistency of low-fat milk.

The tutorial I referred you to earlier, where I got the idea for this easy watercolor art, recommends that you use an old brush to paint the art masking fluid on. If you don’t have an old brush, that’s really no biggie, though: I found that as long as you dip your brush in water and clean it off with a cloth every couple of minutes, it’s fine. Once you procure a brush, treat the window like your easel! You’ll want to “paint” over all the dark areas of your phrase, like I’m doing here with my “HELLO!”.

Wait until the art masking fluid is dry to the touch {about 2-3 minutes}, then go over it with a healthy amount of watercolor. I painted with blues and greens, and it took me — honestly — one minute to do. You can paint over the parts that have the masking fluid on them with reckless abandon.

Okay, I’m not going to lie to you: I had my doubts about how easily the art masking fluid would come off. It turns out my worry was in vain; all you need to do is rub at an edge a little bit with an eraser, then it is easy to lift the masking fluid off.

This is incredibly satisfying.

Once I had gotten all the art masking fluid off, here’s what I ended up with!

The “HELLO!” piece was really fun to make, so I wanted to try this technique out on a portrait, too. To see how to create a stencil portrait, you’ll want to reference the original tutorial that inspired me. You will have to choose a photo with great contrast, like this one:

Then add the art masking fluid, watercolor over it, and peel … just like with the “HELLO!”.

The final product doesn’t resemble the photo exactly, but it does resemble it closely enough that it would make for some really amazing album art or something. I can see someone writing a song and using this technique to do a portrait on the front of their CD {or … you know, more likely, iTunes artwork}.

So, wow, I think this has been one of my shortest tutorials ever. If you like it enough to get the art masking fluid, great! It’s not my favorite thing on the face of the planet, but I definitely enjoy it ten dollars’ worth; I think you’ll feel the same way. If you buy some, here are some more things you could make with this technique:

• If you own an online shop {or a brick-and-mortar, why not?}, you could make small-ish “THANKS” cards to slip into orders. I’d make several at a time.
• If you need to design a poster for a campaign, a music festival, or anything else that focuses on one person/a couple of people, this is a great technique for that.
• Make general wall art; you could create your favorite quotes or make groovy portraits.
• The peeling part makes this a really fun project for kids. If you have children, this is a project they can help with and will genuinely enjoy!

If you have any questions or, of course, input, please feel free to comment! I always learn so much from your comments {and am inspired to write subsequent blog posts using the questions I receive!}. No lie, the creativity of the people who miraculously stumble across TPK is incredible. Thanks so much for reading; the fact that you are here makes my day!

Warmest wishes always,