This tutorial by artist Gaby Friedman originally appeared on the TPK Blog in 2015. I’m re-sharing it because every time I come across it, I get that irresistible, ‘must-stop-everything-to-make-this’ feeling. I hope you feel the same spark of inspiration!
There’s a distinct vibrancy and life to artist Gaby Friedman’s work, a quality that sparks the imagination. Today, I’m thrilled to share the fabulous watercolor art tutorial she’s crafted for you. In the tutorial, you’ll learn how to create an eye-catching galaxy effect using watercolors, rubbing alcohol, and white ink. The technique is versatile, allowing you to adapt and modify it to achieve a variety of cool effects. Get ready to feel inspired!
Hello! My name is Gaby Friedman. Painting is my passion, and today I am going to share a watercolor art tutorial with you. I’m very excited to be the guest blogger for Lindsey today. I’m going to teach you how to paint a Peace and Love Icon with a galaxy effect. You can use this technique to make your own art projects and decorate your walls. The only limit is your imagination!
Watercolor is one of my favorite painting mediums to work with because it renders transparent, delicate, and ethereal results. At the same time, watercolors dry fast and you can finish a painting in a few hours. If you don’t have much experience with watercolors, take your time and enjoy the ride! You’ll love the results.
To get started, here are the supplies that you’ll need:
Search online for the peace and love icon as a reference, then trace it onto your paper. A ruler and a math compass will come in very handy for this purpose, though you can freehand if you want to.
You only want to paint in the negative area of the icon, so you will need to protect the borders with liquid frisket or art masking fluid. Use your paintbrush to apply a layer of this product to the area that needs to be protected (as shown in the photo below).
Now, apply clean water to one of the sections of the peace sign.
Then, put a little drop of blue watercolor onto the wet paper and keep applying galaxy-inspired colors while the paper is wet. I added black India ink, as well as different shades of blue, magenta, pink, yellow, green, and red. Continue repeating the same exercise until you cover all the negative space of the Peace & Love icon.
Note that is important to use black ink or black watercolor in order to create the galaxy effect.
After you’ve finished the section you’re working on, sprinkle some salt over your artwork to get the effect of the stars while your paper is still wet. Try not to overdo it because too much salt ruins the effect; a few grains will suffice.
After sprinkling the salt, use a cotton swab to apply some alcohol to the still-wet watercolor. This will add a different texture and create the galaxy effect. Simply apply the saturated cotton swab to wet watercolor and watch magic happen!
Once your painting has dried, remove the excess salt by gently rubbing it with your hand. (The photo below shows how my painting looked when it dried. Now I have a nice background texture to work with!)
Spatter white ink with a brush to create the starry night effect. (For tips on achieving this effect with paint or ink, visit the How to Make Intentional Ink Spatters tutorial.) Then, use a pencil to doodle the skyline of your favorite city or a whimsical skyline.
Finally, the fun part: details! You’ll want to use white ink and a thin paint brush for this. Start painting the line work as neatly as possible; to achieve this, you’ll need a steady hand and a good amount of paint/ink (but not too much — you don’t want blobs!) on your brush.
Now, you are going to paint some big stars with a glare. You’ll start with the glare — to make it, paint circles with watered-down white ink. Watering down the ink is an important step because you will add a second layer on top of these circles once they are dry.
Then, paint a second layer of smaller circles with white ink on top of the first layer. Now you have some shining stars!
Remove the frisket or art masking fluid by peeling or rubbing with a soft eraser. Ideally, it should be removed within 24 hours after the paint dries.
And there you have it! A gorgeous piece of art for any corner of your cozy home! I hope that this easy-to-follow tutorial will inspire you and encourage you to pick up a brush and create. Thank you for reading.
Back to Lindsey, here: I can’t be the only one who had never thought to use watered-down white ink to achieve a halo effect around stars. I am in love with the creativity behind this watercolor art tutorial! If you’d like to display Gaby’s artwork as a 5″x7″ piece in your home — or use it as a greeting card or postcard — you can download it for free by clicking here.
I’d like to extend a sincere thank you to Gaby for writing today’s watercolor art tutorial, and of course a big thanks to you for reading. If you’d like to follow Gaby’s work, take a look at her Instagram page. 🙂 Have a great, watercolor-filled weekend!
Warmly,
This tutorial was first shared in March 2015. It has been updated to include a clearer instructional format.
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