I’ll be frank with you: I have one objective every Mother’s Day, and that’s to out-do my two brothers with gift-giving. I know they’re sitting at home right now plotting how to top me this year {because that’s all that boys in their early 20’s have to do on Friday nights, right?}, but I’ve come up with what I believe to be the ultimate Mother’s Day gift. If you follow this herbal watercolor tutorial, you just may find yourself being victorious over your siblings, too!
The first thing I did for this tutorial was make a trip to the local thrift shop to find four different frames. After some intense rummaging, I found frames that I liked and could envision in my mom’s house. If you follow my lead and do some frame thrifting, you might experiment with arranging the frames in different layouts on the floor of the store. That way, you can ensure that if your herbal watercolor recipient wants to make a frame collage on the wall, it will look natural. Also, you’ll want to double-check to make sure all your frames have hangers on the back.
Once you retrieve your frames, you’ll know the size of the herbal watercolor painting(s) that you’ll need to create. In my case, I had three 5″x7″ frames and one 8″x10″ frame. I procured a 140 lb. cold press watercolor pad and cut four pieces of paper to the sizes that I needed.
I won’t bore you by detailing how I painted all four herbs, so I have chosen to show you how I painted the basil. The technique I used for this herb, of course, is the technique I used for the other three. It’s also the technique that you can use to paint the herb(s) of your choice! I began by taking a photo of my basil. You are welcome to use this as a reference photo as well; simply right-click the photo and select “Save”.
Of course, you can get a random photo from the internet, but it’s always better to take your own photo if you can. That way, you can arrange the herbs as you wish.
Once I took my basil photo, I imported it in to Photoshop and put text under it reading “BASIL”. You can easily do this in a program like Microsoft Word or even Google Docs {though it’s not a necessary step}.
After you modify the photo to your liking, you’ll want to print out the photo and text {if applicable}. Then, you’ll put the printout behind your piece of 8″x10″ watercolor paper and put the whole shebang on a light box. {By the way, there’s a light box giveaway going on right now — visit this blog post to enter!} Note that if you don’t have a light box, a bright window should work fine … though you’ll find yourself at a bit of an uncomfortable angle.
At this point, you’ll want to select the colors that will be present in your herbal watercolor painting. I have chosen a simple little palette consisting of Serpentine Green, Bismuth Yellow, and Perylene Green {all from the Greenleaf & Blueberry Altoids tin set}, and for my dark/shading color, I chose Violet Hematite. Honestly, though, you can choose whatever colors you want. Just make sure you have two relatively light colors, and two relatively dark colors.
First, you’ll want to cover the entire piece of basil with one shade of light green. To make faster work of this task, I used a relatively large brush {well, for me, at least} — a Grumbacher size 3 Goldenedge 4620 Round. I love using a light box to get this project started in this way for two reasons. First of all, it allows you to create an accurate layout without making pencil guidelines, which can be hard to completely erase from watercolor pieces. Secondly, it’s a big timesaver! You get your layout right the first time without frustration.
I have to say that when I was growing up, I would occasionally hear that using a light box was “cheating”, so I never touched one. But, you know what? Now that I’m older, I realize that time is valuable. If you can take a little shortcut like this to save time, pff!, I say go for it! The personality in these herbal watercolor paintings absolutely come from the details, anyway, which you’re not going to use the light box for. That said, I love using the light box to make layout — and the text! Remember how I showed you how to make the ombré watercolor letters in the Three Easy Mail Art Ideas post? Same principle here. Start by painting over the top of your letter with a light green …
Then, blend a darker green into that {I’m using Perylene Green}. When I say “blend”, by the way, all I really mean is paint the darker green where the lighter green ends. If you can clearly see the juncture between the two colors when you’re finished putting on the darker green, wet your brush with only water {no paint}. Then, put your wet brush at the juncture and gently move it back and forth between the two {but keep your brush in the immediate region of the juncture}. Voilà! Your colors will re-hydrate and blend together.
You’ll want to end the letter with a dark shade. Of course, my dark shade is the Violet Hematite, but you really could go with whatever you want here. Rather than a violet, you might choose to use a dark blue or a dark brown. You’re good with anything that meshes with green, really.
Once you create your layout and letters, you’re done with the light box. As you put it away, you might give it an affectionate pat for saving you so much time!
At this point, though, you’ll also need to get yourself ready for some serious watercoloring. Put on some good music, grab a cup of tea/coffee, and get comfortable … this step will require a little bit of patience {but I have complete and total faith in your skills}! I’m going to walk you through this to the best of my ability, and if you’re confused about something, please, feel free to ask. Be sure and have your reference photo handy, because that’s what you’re working off of.
When you have a cluster of leaves like at the top of the basil, it’s a good idea to make some little guidelines for yourself to show the shape of all the leaves. I use a paintbrush and more light green paint to do this.
The trick to drawing any herb is taking it one element at a time. In this case, you’ll want to focus on one leaf, completely finish it, then move on to the next. I prefer to do it this way because I find that if I try to do a little of this and a little of that on all leaves at the same time, I get overwhelmed. So: pretend that each leaf you are working on is the only leaf, do your best to make it a lovely leaf, then move on. And, crucially, remember that your aim is not perfection. If it were, you’d just frame a photo and not bother with making a painting that is uniquely “you”.
All that said, the first thing you’ll focus on is shading. Look at the leaf in your reference photo and try to see where the little shadows are in that leaf. Paint those shadows on your leaf with your dark green.
Once you paint your shadows, you’ll want to blend them in to the leaf. The reason for this is if you leave them as-is, your leaf will look segmented. “Blend” is an intimidating verb if you are new to using watercolors, but blending is more simple with this type of paint than any other. Just do like you did with the letters early in this tutorial, wet your brush with just water, then rub the bristles at the edges of your shadow. Your goal, basically, is to tease out the edges of the shadow so the shadow fades from dark green into the light green color. Note that your dark green paint can be completely dry and you’ll still be able to blend it. You can see me blending with water below:
After your dark green shadows are painted, it’s time to go in and add your darkest color! You’ll figure out where that color should be by observing your leaf in the reference photo again. Look at where the darkest shadows are, and that’s where you’ll paint the darkest color. You should be painting over some of the shadows you painted using the darker green.
If you get confused about where to paint your shadows, that’s okay. Remember, you’re not aiming for perfection. Just do your best! Even if the shadows aren’t accurately placed, you’ll still have an amazing contrast, which is what makes the piece visually appealing.
You’ll use the technique outlined above for every leaf. The series of photos below will show you how I painted one leaf at a time.
Don’t be afraid to use a high concentration of the dark green and your other, darker shade {in my case, the Violet Hematite}. A lot of people are afraid to put a lot of contrast in their pieces, but contrast will make the piece look realistic. More contrast will result in leaves that actually look 3D.
Just keep painting one leaf at a time until you’re finished! Remember, this isn’t necessarily a speedy project, and the larger the painting, the longer it will take you to paint. This basil {size 8″x10″} took me a little over three hours to paint; but they were three enjoyable hours of being “in the zone”.
I was thinking while I was painting that I should ask you: would a tutorial over some basic watercolor tips and techniques be helpful? If so, what questions do you have about using watercolor? Watercolor is such an approachable, friendly medium, and anyone who has a mind to be good at it can “get there”! I really mean that. I don’t want you to feel like you should automatically know how to blend or how to pair colors or whatever. So, if you have any questions, I’d very much like to encourage you to comment. If it would help you to read a from-scratch watercolor tutorial, I’d be more than happy to write one!
I also realize that you may like the look of these herbal watercolor paintings, but you may not have the time to paint them before Mother’s Day. I have made the basil painting into a free printable for you to either print off and give to Mom or just keep for yourself. I really like the result of this project, and while I’m a generous daughter who is giving Mom the original, I’m also printing off a copy for my kitchen. You may download your basil printable here; it’s available in size 4″x6″, 5″x7″, and 8″x10″.
I created three other illustrations as well: chives, thyme, and oregano. You may purchase them for $3.25 apiece {click here for chives, click here for thyme, or click here for oregano} , or you may purchase the set of three for $6.50. I’m selling them for that price because I want you to be able to buy them if you like them, and subsequently do whatever makes you happy with them. You can keep them for yourself and display them in your own home, give them to your mom for Mother’s Day in either matching or mismatched frames {as I did}, pin a couple up in your office … really, do as you please! They each come in size 4″x6″, 5″x7″, and 8″x10″ as well. Let’s talk printing, though. You can either:
- Print them off at home, which is very cost-effective, cheap, and quick. Depending on your printer, a disadvantage may be not-so-optimal print quality.
- Have them printed off at a local printing shop or office supply store like FedEx/Kinkos. To do this, you’ll send the printing shop the file and let them know how many you want of each, and what size. This is pretty cost-effective and higher quality than printing at home.
- For the highest-quality print, you can upload the images you want printed out to finerworks.com. I’d recommend getting them printed out on Premium Giclee Paper; note that you’ll have to input a custom size in the first column. Ordering a borderless painting should be just fine.
If your head is spinning from those printing options {if you have questions about printing, by the way, please feel free to ask}, you can bypass the printing step and order physical products with these illustrations on them from the TPK Society 6 shop:
- Find products featuring the basil illustration here.
- Find products featuring the thyme illustration here.
- Find products featuring the oregano illustration here.
- Find products featuring the chives illustration here.
Again, I’d love to hear your input on whether I can be of help with watercolor techniques! I hope this post has inspired you to create the perfect Mother’s Day gift, and I also hope you have a great weekend.
Thanks very much for reading!
Warmly,
I dislike unpredictability in general so i figure watercolor is the best entry point in curbing that phobia. My paintings suffer from a crazy lack of water. Would appreciate watercolor basics 🙂
Wow, this is me. What an astute way to describe what must also be attracting me to watercolor!
Thank you! These are pretty! And yes please, basic watercolour tutorials will be heavensent.
Wonderful! More watercolor tutorials are definitely in the upcoming future 😉
oh this was such an informative post
Thank you for this
Thank you for reading!
Beautiful and you make it look so easy!
How do you scan your work in to get the high-resolution files needed for reproduction on other material or prints?
Hi Diane! I use a scanner, and scan in the image at 600 dpi. You can find more information about the scanning/digital editing process in the Digitizing Artwork and Calligraphy eCourse!
Thanks so much for the detailed and very understandable tutorial! You make me think that even I can be successful with this project! I will be exploring your entire site – your site has so many categories that I’m interested in, yet have never had the courage to try. Thanks for the great website content!
I learned a lot by viewing this, great work, and many ideas for my work, thanks
you are totally creative…..I am grateful to be on your list to receive more “hints”…thank you for sharing your talent so more of us can learn…. I do watercolor and colored pencil….am not “ready” to do acrylic….but I do want to try. Thank you again
Elaine
How gracious are you to help us learn the art of water color painting! Thank you. I have my supplies, just feeling a bit timid about starting. Your instructions are a big help!!! I also love the way you write….very homey!
Hi Lindsey! I remember stumbling upon your blog years ago when I had my calligraphy phase (hopefully I’ll get back to that in the future haha) and ohmigosh, this is so cool! I’m so happy to find your blog again, I’m working on improving my watercoloring, especially with plants, so this was a MASSIVE help. Thank you! xx Kate
I love that font, which font is it? I’d love to have it.
Gosh … I’m sorry, it’s been so long, I can’t remember what it’s called. I know it starts with “M”, but that’s not very helpful! Any Sans Serif font should work, though — I’d recommend looking through fontsquirrel.com or dafont.com to find fonts that appeal to you. 🙂
Hi Allison! I think that’s Montserrat. It’s what I use on my blog so I can pretty much recognize that anywhere 😊 xx Kate
HI Lindsey,
Thank you so much for this tuditorial. I still have a problem with my watercolors looking choppy even though I work at blending together. Any suggestions?
I’d try to remoisten any watercolor that you can’t get to blend with more water. You can also add more watercolor on top and try to blend it over the choppy blending. 🙂
Thanks a lot not only for this entrance but also for all your entrances. I really love it (i’ve just pinned one picture). You are very generous teaching things and I really apreciate it. People like you are teaching me a lot of beautiful things. I like watercolors and therfore this writing is fantastic. Thank you very much!!
This was so helpful! Especially your “Painting with Watercolors for Beginners” tutorial! It was so helpful and simple, and was absolutely what I needed! It is so hard searching through the Internet for a guide to anything, and I was lucky that yours was one of the first to show up.
Thanks, Hannah! I’m lucky to have you here!
great tutorial 🙂 loving what you did here.. thank you so much!
It’s my pleasure! This is actually one of my all-time favorite tutorials … I love using a deep purple to add shadows to leaves. 🙂
Hi lindesy! I love your work and I was wondering regarding your brushes is there particular kind you find work better like gold talon etc? Thanks!
Hi Kerri!
Actually, I haven’t found a brush yet that I don’t like. 🙂 I don’t have any particular preference, but I do find myself using Winsor & Newton Sceptre a lot!
I feel like I could actually do this! I saw the picture and thought I couldn’t, but when you explained how to do it in each small step…. I think I’m gonna go buy some watercolors and give this a shot! …..I don’t even remember how I got here, but I’m glad I did! Lol. Also, those botanical print posters are SOOO expensive. I like the idea of learning how to paint my own. Plus it is way more fun to decorate with art that is personal/homemade. Thanks for showing us how to paint! 🙂
I agree, Jenn — decorating with personal art is wonderful! I’m so happy that you realized you could do this after reading through all the steps. I think most things are like this: they look tough at first, but the process isn’t so tough when divided into bite-size chunks! 🙂
Hi Lindsey, I’m new in watercolor, learn about light and dark contrast are new from me, so far I just painting like child, and it’s really ugly, found your blog give me an important information about it, and I just curious, do you watercolor it in the top of light tracer/ light box, I just wonder it can be to this way, I think this light box only for trace an image.
please if you have a time, answer my question, I still consider to buy tracer light box or not.
Hi Sara!
Depending on the painting, I watercolor some elements of paintings while the paintings are on the light box. However, with other paintings, I will use the light box and a pencil to trace around elements, then I paint the piece without the light box. If a light box is in your budget, I know that you’ll love having one; but it’s not completely necessary!
I hope this helps!
Hi Lindsey,
I absolutely love your work and its so amazing to see how beautifully you paint.
I look forward to more of your tutorials and am waiting to share your site with my daughter.
Thank you so much.
You bring out the sleeping artist in me.
Looking forward and best wishes.
Payal.
You’ll be so pleasantly surprised at how much your inner artist blossoms. 🙂 Creativity is like a muscle; the more you use it, the stronger it gets! Thanks so much for the kind words, Payal!
Thank you so much for your tutorials I have spent hours looking at them. I want to learn watercolor so badly but I feel like I am failing miserably. Could you possibly post some videos? I’d really like to see how you use the brushes to actually make the various shapes. There must be some technique for using the brushes a certain way??? Please help! Thanks.
Hi Karin!
I think these two blog posts could really help you:
– Painting with Watercolors for Beginners
– Painting with Watercolors for Beginners Part II
Give those a read! I know they’ll be of assistance. 🙂
Lindsey, You are putting so much into your blog!! Each and Every post is one I want to try. I have been successful in many of your techniques and have had loads of fun trying something new. It’s also been great to show others your techniques as well. Keep up with the watercolors, it’s fun and informative. Thanks so much for “being” there!
Gratefully,
Linda,
Orange County, CA
It’s so rewarding to get the creative juices flowing and make something you love! Even better when you can share that passion with others. 🙂 I hope that you like the latest watercolor post! It’s not necessarily a project-specific tutorial, but my hope is that it provides some helpful tips.
Thanks very much for the exceedingly kind comment. I’d like to thank you for “being here”, reading the posts. I always have the best caliber of people — yourself included — reading this blog. I have no idea how I got so lucky, but hey! I won’t question it. Thank you again!
Hello Lindsey,
I have been thinking about starting to really learn calligraphy, however, for starters I the only pen I have that resembles any calligraphy pen is a fountain pen (it is not easy to find calligraphy supplies here in Portugal and I would like to experiment a little before ordering anything). Do you think it will do the trick for a while?
Regarding your watercolour tutorial: I love watercolors and just never had a try at it, so the real basics is what I would be looking for.
By the way, love your blog, I’m always checking for new content!
Hi Catarina!
I wish I had more experience with fountain pens. I have one, but haven’t gotten truly acquainted with it yet. When I do, I’d like to write a tutorial!
That said, I might recommend that you take a look at Scribblers. It’s a calligraphy-focused store based in the UK that might have good shipping prices to Portugal. There is a big difference between a fountain pen and a pointed pen, so if you can try out a pointed pen, I would absolutely recommend it! I think you’d fall in love with using it. That said, you could always look up an exemplar of uncial script and work on using your fountain pen to create that … I think Uncial is so pretty!
I hope you enjoy the latest blog post covering watercolor basics! If you have any questions after reading it, please let me know. 🙂 And of course I’m very glad to know you’re enjoying the blog! I really have a great time writing it, and it’s so nice to know that you derive pleasure from reading it.
Beautiful! Lovely to see your painting technique.
Thank you! It’s fun to see how different people do different things, huh? 🙂
OMGosh, this painting from a picture is so fantastic. It makes painting from still life so doable! Once again, thank your for sharing and inspiring. Could you email me an address to send you something….just coz
Hi Hazel!
Absolutely; I love receiving snail mail. I’ll send my address your way tomorrow AM. 🙂
Lindsey, I started doing watercolor on my own and even dabbling in calligraphy again (haven’t touched it since high school) because of your blog! Thank you so much for these detailed tutorials, and for your confidence in your reader. I tried leafing through a couple of watercolor technique books, but they were so overwhelming and, honestly, a little stuffy to read. Your tutorials are a great balance of detailed photos (which help so much) and clear instructions. I’d love to learn more about painting detailed flora-like the herbs tutorial here; maybe more about creating detailed flower paintings using those same layering techniques?
One question I had, and I don’t know if it was addressed in another blog post, is what paper to use when doing watercolor and calligraphy-say I want to do a botanical wreath in watercolor and write a message inside it. I used the 140 lb cold pressed paper, but it was terrible to write on-my nib was catching all over the place and the ink wasn’t flowing well. Do you aim in the middle, to make the paper heavy enough for watercolor, but smooth enough for dip pens? Is there a happy medium?
Thanks for all you do!
Hi Hildy!
First of all, I couldn’t agree with you more about watercolor instruction being overwhelming. I was researching it for the blog post I wrote today, and, wow. I mean, I use watercolor all the time and feel I have a good grip on it; but what I was reading was definitely making me confused and overwhelmed. That’s when I stopped and decided I was just going to write about how I, personally, use watercolors.
For painting flowers, the technique should be the same; start with your base layer, then build up your medium and dark tones from there! {I may do a tutorial in the future, though, because I love painting florals!} As far as paper goes, I always use 140 lb. cold press. It is difficult to write on with a pointed pen, but eventually you get used to it. That said, you can purchase hot press watercolor paper, which is much smoother than cold press! It’s also more expensive, but the cost can be justified by the fact that it’s making your life easier. 🙂
Let me know if you have any other questions — I’m glad to help!
Lindsey, you are so gifted and I absolutely love everything that you post. I am so inspired by your creativity. Your instructions are simple to follow and makes me want to keep learning. Thank you for this fantastic blog!
My instructions are simple because that’s how I have to think in order to get anything done! “Baby steps” is the best philosophy, in my opinion. 🙂 Thanks very much for the wonderfully kind comment, Nettie!
Lindsey,
You are FANTASTIC! I absolutely love your blog, and you inspired me to get started in calligraphy! I would really love a “from scratch” watercolor tutorial.. I have no clue what to do when it comes to watercolors. I recently purchased my first set and have been playing around some, but your tutorials always seem to help me figure things out easier 🙂
Oh, yay!! I hope you’re enjoying your calligraphy practice! And I also hope that the watercolor tutorial I wrote today helps you to really get the hang of your new set. Watercolors are so approachable; you’ll be painting masterpieces in no time. 🙂
I’d also love some watercolour tutorials. I’m particualrly curoius about how to deal with the very light areas. I noticed in your demo that you started out by leaving quite a bit of white space – but when I looked at the photo i could see that I would not have picked out that much lightness. So I’m wondering how you work that out.
Thanks for a fantastic blog!
Holly
Hi Holly!
Great question. I didn’t cover that in my latest blog post {the watercolor tutorial I posted today}, but I should in the future. {I didn’t want to overwhelm beginning watercolor artists with too much information!} It’s all about looking at the photo and working out which areas you can make light without sacrificing the realism of the piece. I love having lots of good contrast, so I’m always making sure there are plenty of light lights and dark darks in my pieces.
If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask. They can perhaps be addressed here; but if not, they’d certainly go in a future blog post. Thank you!!
Lindsey! I’m so happy to have found your site! I’m a newbie to calligraphy and would absolutely love a basic watercolor tutorial!! You break down the steps easily! I so appreciate your generosity in sharing skills and techniques!! Blessings to you!!
Calligraphy and watercolor go together like peanut butter and jelly. I looove adding some pretty personality to my calligraphy pieces with watercolor florals and borders! I hope you enjoy the beginner’s watercolor tutorial I just posted; I was aiming for something simple but helpful. 🙂
Thanks so much for you blog Lindsey, I look forward to each post! Inspired by your ‘can do’ attitude I attempted a botanical wreath card for my Mum (excuse Australian spelling heh heh) this year made up of the floral emblems of the States she’s lived in (seriously would have thought this impossible a couple of months ago). I was pretty happy with the results and inked it out, but when I came to do the watercolours I did struggle a bit with shading. I was a bit hesitant to stuff it up, so it ended up ok, but a little…flat? I could have coloured in pencil for similar results (but not nearly as much fun 🙂 Some tips on that would be great. And thanks again.
Hi Bron!
The first thing to remember is you will always be your own worst critic. I’d be willing to bet your mom — er, mum, sorry! 😉 — got the card and was over the moon at how pretty it is!
That said, I just wrote a watercolor tutorial that I think may help you with shading. It’s good to remember that every object in life is made up of shapes, and if you have a basic understanding of how to shade those shapes, you’re good to go. If you have any questions about shading after reading the latest blog post, please let me know! I’m glad to help. 🙂
Thank you!
Hi, Lindsey! I discovered your blog a week ago and have fallen in love–although I’ve always been an artsy person, I’ve always been a bit intimidated by paint and blending, so I’d LOVE to see a watercolor tutorial! Thanks and keep up the great work!
Hi Amy! I’m so glad that you are enjoying the blog! I hope that you find the tutorial I wrote today over watercolors to your liking. 🙂 Watercolors really are very user-friendly and you can just {literally} go with the flow when using them! If you have questions, though, please always feel free to comment/let me know!
Beautiful, Lindsey!! I love these watercolor tutorials. Please keep them coming!!
I hope the last one is useful to you! I’d be curious to see what you come up with working in the watercolor medium — I know you could do some gorgeous stuff, my talented friend!
Hi Lindsey,
Watercolor tutorials would be awesome!
If you could talk about blending like how they paint skies and oceans in landscapes, that would be great!
Also, how to add layers [which you already showed here!] is an interesting concept too.
I recently painted Sydney’s opera house and I had to use the above mentioned concepts. I was quite pleased with the end result [if I may say so myself :p] but if somebody could talk/explain more about it, nothing like it 🙂
Watercolors are my fav medium. There is soo much to learn about them and the fact that presence/absence of water can achieve such fabulous results, it amazes me!!
Thank you!!
Anee
I agree; watercolors are my favorite too! You’re guaranteed gorgeous results because they’re so beautiful … and, you’re right, the amount of water can change so much! Did you post the Sydney Opera House illustration on your blog? I’d love to see it!
Hi Lindsey,
I havent put it on the blog but I sent it to you via direct Instagram. I hope you dont mind!
I am so slow at seeing Instagram messages — sorry! I never know when I have one, which I know is really strange. I will take a look tomorrow; I’m so excited to see! Thank you!
Hi Lindsey! I have found your tutorials so beautiful and helpful, and really appreciate your generosity in sharing your knowledge. Any basic tips or techniques you could pass on would be great., particularly color theory, which I have trouble with among other things! ☺️
Thank you so much!
Hi Sydney!
I hope you find the latest tutorial useful … I didn’t go into color theory so much in it, but in the future I can! 🙂
OH, YES, PLEASE! A watercolor basics tutorial would be WONDERFUL!
There are, of course, lots of videos of this type out there, but I would LOVE to have one by you. Your teaching style is so clear and encouraging and your visual supports so high quality that I am sure you’d do a particularly helpful intro tutorial.
I just wrote it! I hope you like it. 🙂 Thanks, Cathy!
Hello Lindsey! I just saw your blog last month and now I constantly check it for some watercolor and calligraphy tips. Actually I’m having problems with watercolor blending so i hope you can make a blog post about the basics of watercolor. I also want to thank you for inspiring me to draw flowers and do fake calligraphy (Kaitlin Style is my fave.)!!!
I’m sorry that you are having trouble with blending watercolor — but also glad, because Saturday’s blog post should clear up your confusion! 🙂 Flowers are such a fun subject to illustrate, and your hard work is rewarded with a beautiful illustration to display when you’re finished. And fake calligraphy is awesome! I used to exclusively write using the faux technique, and got a lot of enjoyment {plus learned a lot stylistically!} out of it. I’m very happy to hear you are having a similar experience!
I live for this blog. You do such a wonderful job. As a newbie to painting period, I have found that I love watercolor. I really suck and would love a tutorial especially with the blending and shading. What are good brushes to have also cause mostly I use watercolor markers or pencils with a waterbrush. I do not draw very well (including stick people) so I use stamps and color them in which really helps my self-esteem. Lol. Any suggestions and tips would be greatly appreciated. I have been trying to make ur confetti flowers and they don’t look good. But on a happier note, my kaitlyn style calligraphy is starting to look really good!!!
I love that you’re coloring in stamps! Just because you’re not creating freestanding paintings does not mean you aren’t being creative with your watercolor skills. In fact, starting out by coloring in stamps or coloring books will help you to build up important muscle memory needed for future watercolor painting endeavors. 🙂
I’m sorry the confetti flowers aren’t quite up to par yet {try again; you’ll get there!}, but so happy to hear that your Kaitlin is lookin’ good! Soon, you’ll be able to combine your watercolor and calligraphy skills to make some very compelling pieces.
Thanks very much for your feedback as far as what you’re curious to know! I have been planning on Saturday’s blog post {a beginning watercolor tutorial}, and took all your questions into account. If you have any questions after reading it, I’d love to hear them!
Thank you again, Katrece!
I think it’s clear that we’d all LOVE a tutorial on watercolor techniques. I would especially like some tips on texture. Your basil and others herbs are BEAUTIFUL and so realistic looking. I find my watercolors looking a bit more abstract/juvenile… You’re tempting me into buying a more grown-up watercolor palette, in the hopes that will help. Looking forward to the next tutorial as always! 🙂
I think you deserve the most grown-up watercolor palette in the land! You unintentionally raise a good question in your comment, though: how much of a difference does paint quality make? I can definitely tell the difference between the richness of colors in my Winsor & Newton Cotman palette and my Greenleaf & Blueberry palette … but I’m also wondering if the difference is exaggerated because my skill level improved? At any rate, if you find yourself with some extra jingle, artist-grade watercolors are great!
I think the secret to realistic illustrations is contrast. A lot of times, it’s hard to get yourself to add a really dark value to a really light value because you don’t see that dramatic difference in the reference photo. However, not being afraid of applying that contrast really does add so much to the finished piece and its visual interest! I’d also try using tiny brushes {if you’re not already}. Saturday’s tutorial may help you a bit in your watercolor endeavors, though!
Yes! I would LOVE a watercolor tutorial!! Your work is beautiful!
Well, then, your wish is my command! Look for that in a few days. 🙂 Thank you, Ginger!
I would love a full watercolor tutorial, aimed at total newbies! I have been wanting to try watercolor, but I’m not sure where to begin. Also, a watercolor tools post, similar to the one you did about dip pen calligraphy, would be awesome. Knowing exactly what to buy was really helpful. Plus, until reading that post, I had no idea how affordable it would be!
Also, I think we live in the same town. I would LOVE an in-person watercolor workshop! I know that’s a lot more work than a blog post, but I thought I’d throw it out there!
Ah! Are you a Boulderite? 🙂 If so, Michael’s is where I get all of my watercolor brushes and paints! Guiry’s is also really good for supplies.
I’ve done a couple of workshops in our apartment; but I think it will be better to wait until we have a house to host more. I can only accommodate about three people here! But, maybe if I get time this summer, I’ll look into possibly teaching at Two Hands or something. That would be fun, plus Piece, Love, and Chocolate is next door; so the workshop could be supplemented with a delightful sugar high. 😉
Hi, Lindsey ~
FYI: I tried to purchase the “printable” package but was unable to complete the transaction using PayPal. The error message stated something about the shipping method being incorrect. I’ll try again later.
Like everyone else, I would love more watercolor tutorials, preferably sketchbook size demos. What I like most about your blog posts is how you explain a basic technique and then demonstrate the technique with a “simple-for-some” project idea. I love watercolor art but personally struggle with its execution. I figure if anyone can teach me, you can. The other thing I enjoy about your blog posts is your sense of humor, e.g., ” . . . pff!, I say go for it!” 🙂
I’m sure your mom loves all of her children equally; I’m equally sure her little girl holds a special place in her heart. Surely, your gift will rise above the others!
Hi Jo! I know I thanked you before — but thanks again for letting me know there was a glitch in purchasing! Your comment made it such that we were able to fix it stat. 🙂
I’ve put together a plan for a post on Saturday covering the basics of watercolor painting; if there are any questions you have after reading it, I’d love to hear if you have additional questions! That will help me to cover the right stuff in subsequent posts. It’s such a wonderful, versatile medium that is fun to work with. 🙂
I’m hoping my gift will rise above the others! However, my middle brother may currently be in the lead as far as favorites because he’s the one who has “the grandbaby”. 😉 I know, though, that these will look great in my mom’s kitchen. I told her not to read this blog post … so hopefully she still hasn’t seen what she’s getting yet!
Thanks again for a helpful comment; I really appreciate it!
Yes!! A watercolor basics blog would be just perfect. I’ve been trying to experiment on water color lettering and painting a few flowers and wreaths but my work always seem to be quite flat. Your tips on blending are actually quite useful and i’m excited to try them on my future experiments. Hopefully i get to learn more about blending if ever you make a blog on the basics of water coloring. And also, i’d like to ask for a few tips on how to work with colors since i have a very basic watercoloring set so i don’t have a lot of colors to work with. Is there a way that i could create lighter shades or mix my colors to have a better palette? Thanks!!
Hi Jess!
I have started planning on Saturday’s post, which is about watercolor painting for beginners. Based on your comment, I included a section on blending as well as mixing colors to make any color your heart desires … as well as making different shades of colors! After reading that post, I’d so appreciate it if you comment with any additional questions you have! I am planning on writing a few watercolor posts in the future, and it’s really nice to have a reference point as far as what I should cover. 🙂
Thank you for your questions! I really appreciate you commenting and effectively giving me direction about what to write in the next watercolor tutorial!
I really love your tutorials , Lindsey! They are so informative and well-written. I’ve done watercolors before, but I find your explanations very helpful. You encourage beginners to give it a try. I’d love to see more watercolor tutorials. I think a tutorial on palette choices, or color mixing would be enjoyed by your readers.
Thanks!
Thank you for the smart suggestions! I’ve just started putting together a watercolor basics post, and your comment reminded me to include a bit of information about mixing. 🙂 I really appreciate it!
Oh I love your tutorial and freebies, thank you so much for sharing! Your blog is so inspiring and I purchased some of your lessons, now I only have to find the time to learn Faux and real calligraphy.
Hugs from Holland,
B.
The issue is never not having enough creativity … it’s always figuring out how to find the time! 🙂 You’ll enjoy learning so much, though, and if you have any questions in the process, please feel free to contact me!
Hi Lindsey,
I really enjoy all of your posts and have tried out a few of your ideas. I’ve only started playing around with hand lettering & watercolour a few months ago so would absolutely love a tutorial on watercolour basics. I normally live in Kolkata, India, but am currently in a rural town in Kenya for a few months so have had trouble accessing calligraphy supplies. Watercolours, however, seem to be universally available!
Thanks,
Caitlin
Watercolors are very travel-friendly! If you can find a set in Kenya, you’ll be able to tote it around with you wherever you go. 🙂 I have already started writing a basic watercolor tutorial, which is set to launch on Friday — I hope it will be beneficial!
Hi! As soon as I got the notification email I rushed to read it because Im absolutely obsessed with your blog. This is such a good idea and i must try it. I have a couple of questions about calligraphy actually. I have just started and am wondering if it’s necessary to get an oblique pen or can I just use a straight one? Also is blue ink ok or is black a must? And finally can you recommend a ‘starter’ style (kaitlyn, janet etc.) or are they all the same level of difficulty?
Thanks so much and I love love love your blog,
Dina
Hi Dina!
Thank you! I’m so glad you like reading the blog! To answer your questions, you can absolutely start with a straight pen. I recommend the Generals cork pen. After you have some practice with that, you can decide whether you want an oblique or not. I really love mine, and wholeheartedly would recommend getting one!
Blue ink is just fine; but make sure that you are using 70 lb. drawing paper so it doesn’t bleed. Sometimes those colored inks are a little more watery than permanent black inks, so it’s important to use a paper that can handle them. You might print off the practice sessions of the worksheet you are working on on 70 lb. paper that has been cut to a size that can be printed on.
Finally, I don’t think that there’s one worksheet that’s easier or harder than the other — but my personal favorite style is the Kaitlin. You can watch me creating that calligraphy style with a straight holder and a Nikko G nib in this video. 🙂
Let me know if you have any more questions; thank you for reading!
Lindsey, I just love your blog! You make beautiful things so doable and your down to earth, thorough tutorials give me confidence. Thank you!
I’d love a water color tutorial. Do you always start with lighter colors and work your way to the darker ones?
Thank you! Your comment made me try to think back on all the watercolor projects I have made. For realistic art like this, the answer is yes, I do start with lighter colors. With watercolor, you can always make a color darker, but it’s hard to make it lighter. That’s why it’s nice to work in layers! However, on other projects that don’t have realism as an aim {like the Modern DIY Silhouette tutorial}, I just blend without abandon. Really, it just depends on the project! 🙂
i would love some watercolor tutorials, not only for myself, but for my children as well, who tend to view watercolor paints as babyish and not a medium for “proper art”…:)
Look out for one on Saturday! And oh no! Watercolor art is so beautiful and elegant! We went to the Denver Art Museum the other weekend, and there was a William Matthews exhibit. Western art isn’t my thing, but even I have to admit that his paintings {all large-scale watercolors} were eye-catching and realistic. If I ever have time, I’d love to try to make a painting like one of his, maybe of a family member. 🙂