In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to make a lively and festive holiday tree. Grab your watercolors and calligraphy supplies and get ready to create!
Today’s tutorial combines a project from the 2019 TPK Holiday Worksheet with energetic watercolor and shiny Finetec! It’s a project that exudes holiday cheer, and you’ll really enjoy the short few steps that go into it.
Start by grabbing a 5″ x 7″ (127 mm x 178 mm) blank watercolor card and a pencil. Use a ruler to draw two horizontal guidelines 1″ (25 mm) from the top and the bottom of the card. Then, draw a vertical line in the center of the card between the horizontal lines. Finish up this step by centering a 3″ long horizontal line 3/4″ (19 mm) above the bottom horizontal guideline.
Now, connect both ends of the 3″ horizontal lines to the top of the card where the vertical line meets the top horizontal guideline. That should give you a triangle! Then, draw two vertical lines under the triangle to make a trunk. Both of my vertical lines sit 3/8″ (9.5 mm) from the center guideline, for a total trunk width of 3/4″ (19 mm).
At this point, you’ll want to erase any guidelines inside the tree outline and draw in diagonal calligraphy guidelines. The guidelines should be 3/8″ apart, with 1/8″ of space between each set — exactly as specified in Step 2 of the “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” tree project in the 2019 holiday worksheet. Since this tree is taller than the worksheet tree, however, you’ll end up with one extra guideline set.
You don’t have to make a pencil calligraphy draft if you’re short on time. However, doing so will ensure an organic, natural-looking flow in your lettering. You can reference my draft below to make your own. Remember, we’ve got one extra calligraphy guideline here than we do in the 2019 holiday worksheet set, so feel free to use it to write the year.
This project has a lot of watercolor, so you’ll want to use a waterproof ink. I like Ziller Soot Black — and I can’t help but observe how appropriate it is to use a “Soot” colored ink for a holiday that focuses so much on the hearth. Use your ink to trace over your draft with a nice, flexible nib like the Brause EF66. That flexible nib will give you plenty of great stroke contrast.
Continue to work your way from the top of the card to the bottom.
Once your ink has dried, erase all pencil guidelines. (If you don’t, they’ll become immortalized under the watercolor.) Then, moisten two different green tones of watercolor: one that’s dark and one that’s light. Begin by adding a healthy stroke of dark green to the top of the tree, then add a light green stroke underneath. Next, use some lung power to blow streaks of the paint outside the tree. Continue to alternate painting dark and light greens and blowing the color outside of the outline.
Once you reach the bottom of the tree, use a brown tone for the trunk. Then, blow the brown watercolor downward.
You could end here, but — to me — the card looks a bit bare! To remedy that, douse your paintbrush in dark green watercolor, then use your finger to flick color around the tree. Do the same for light green watercolor.
Wait for your green watercolors to dry; it should only take a couple of minutes! Then, if you have metallic watercolors, use them to paint red and blue circles on the tree, which represent ornaments. You can then use white ink to give the illusion of light reflecting off of the shiny ornaments.
Once everything has dried, your card is finished and ready to send. I won’t blame you if you want to take a moment to admire your handiwork, though … this is such a cool color scheme and concept.
If you haven’t already, I encourage you to order some blank watercolor cards to make this tutorial and others like it! The Embellished Winter Greeting Card Tutorial, Artistic Ornaments-Themed DIY Christmas Card Tutorial, and the DIY Holiday Card + Artistic Envelope Tutorial all come to mind. I love having my blank watercolor cards around, especially since it can be difficult to fold watercolor paper yourself without making unsightly creases.
I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial. If you have any questions about it, please feel free to comment on this post. I’m always happy to help!
Wishing you a very happy holiday season from Colorado,
*This post contains affiliate links to Amazon
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