Super Quick Flourished Ampersand Art Tutorial

Ampersand art makes for the perfect gift or home decor because it represents togetherness. Today, I’ll walk you through a quick tutorial that will result in a cool and pretty flourished piece! You can use the motif for a greeting card, put it in a frame for display, or include it as part of your next snail mail packet.

1. Gather Your Supplies

To create this tutorial, you’ll need a few key supplies. They’re listed below this photo.

1. Flourished Ampersand Art Template (printed on whatever paper is in your printer)
2. Watercolor palette
3. Ziller ink
4. Watercolor paper cut to size 5″ x 7″ (12.7 cm x 17.75 cm)
5. Paintbrush (size 3-ish)
6. Your favorite pen holder + nib
7. Light Box

*If you don’t have a light box, you’ll also need a pencil and a green colored pencil. 

2. Trace Over the Flourished Ampersand Art Template

First, center your piece of watercolor paper over the Flourished Ampersand Art Template. Place both the template and the watercolor paper over a light box. Next, use your dip pen and Ziller ink to trace over the dots on the template.

Next, use your dip pen to trace over the flourishes on the template. I chose to use a Brause EF66 nib + oblique pen for this project because the nib is so flexible. It makes nice, contrast-filled strokes!

Once you’re finished, your ampersand will look something like this:

If you don’t have a light box, use a bright window as your “light box”. Trace over the template in pencil onto the watercolor paper, then use your dip pen and ink to trace over the pencil lines. 

3. Add Watercolor

Now, moisten a pale green watercolor such as Hooker’s Green (from the Winsor & Newton palette). Give the water a minute to penetrate the color, then use a wet, large-ish paintbrush to mix the water into the paint. Next, paint over the ampersand.

Continue to paint until the ampersand is filled in with watercolor. Once the ampersand is filled in, you’re finished!

If you don’t have a light box, use a bright window as your light box. Get out your green colored pencil and draw very faintly around the ampersand’s outline. Then, fill in the green colored pencil outline with watercolor!

And, incredibly, that’s it! This project is so quick that you could make a couple of ampersands in different colors. Or, if you want to, you can use the Flourished Ampersand Art Template as an example to make your own letter with watercolor and flourishes! Enjoy!

Warmly,