• Watercolor Lettering + Free eWallpaper Download

    Even if you don’t have the time {15-20 minutes} to create this tutorial, you can stick around to download the free wallpaper for your smartphone or tablet. I keep turning my iPhone on just so I can look at it!

    Watercolor Lettering + Free eWallpaper | The Postman's Knock

    “Watercolor lettering” can mean a lot of things. In this particular post, I am using the term to describe the effect you get when you write using watercolors and a paintbrush. I have noticed this technique is immensely popular lately, and I think it’s because it’s a one-of-a-kind style. We have access to wonderful script fonts on our computers, but since we can use them any time we want, they can be boring. However, no computer could replicate the spontaneity and energy behind writing with a paintbrush. You can’t write the same word twice almost exactly the same because so much depends on the brush, the amount of paint on it, and the pressure you are exerting.

    To create watercolor lettering, you’ll only need a few supplies.

    Watercolor Lettering + Free eWallpaper | The Postman's Knock

    Watercolors, paper {I use watercolor paper, which is ideal; but you can use any paper, really}, a pencil, an eraser, small-bristled brushes, and water.

    Now, I have to digress to tell you a story about the water above because I find it funny. We are in Peru right now visiting my in-laws, so of course I was making this project in Peru …

    Watercolor Lettering + Free eWallpaper | The Postman's Knock{The view from the balcony I was painting on.}

    In some districts of Lima, you’re really not supposed to drink the tap water. The district we stay in is one of those districts. However, the tap water is {of course} fine for other purposes — for example, watercoloring. Dually, I filled up my “watercolor water” mug with tap water, then I left the room for a while. When I came back, I was puzzled to see that most of the water in the mug was gone. “Man,” I said to Hernán, brow furrowed, “something happened to my water.”

    “Yeah,” he responded, “I drank it, sorry. I thought you poured that one for me.” When I informed him, amidst fits of laugher and tears, that he’d not only just drunk my watercolor water {which had been used to that end}, but he’d also gulped down some good ol’ Lima tap water, he clutched his hands to his throat. Thus far, he’s been fine, but the day is but young. I guess we’ll see what happens! In the meantime, the fate of this project is much more clear {I predict beauty and a free wallpaper for your iPhone/iPad!}, and we’ll return to that.

    You’ll get out your paper and write something — a little saying that you like, perhaps, in faint pencil. Then, take out your brush, and paint over your pencil marks.

    Watercolor Lettering + Free eWallpaper | The Postman's Knock

    Painting over the pencil isn’t hard, but there are a couple of things you should keep in mind:

    • It’s best to load up your brush with a significant amount of paint/water, so you can go longer without reloading the brush. This will give you smoother, more organic-looking strokes.
    • The pressure you exert on the brush doesn’t really matter. I noticed that out of {calligraphy} habit, I put more pressure on the upstrokes and less pressure on the downstrokes, but any way you do it will end up looking awesome.

    The script style I used doesn’t have a specific formula; but if I had to peg it as being a style, I’d say it’s an upright version of the Kaitlin. I wrote the author of the quote’s name in a small, sans serif font underneath the sweeping script.

    Watercolor Lettering + Free eWallpaper | The Postman's Knock

    That’s all there is to watercolor lettering itself {I know, an abrupt ending} … but if you have any questions I have missed, please feel free to ask in the comments!

    Since this is an inspirational quote about personal growth and following your dreams, I thought an abundance of flowers and foliage would be a great complement to its message. I am going to show you how to make the flora I created in case you want to try your hand at it, too. It’s honestly very simple, satisfying, and “zen”.

    You can start by making laurel leaves. Simply paint a slight crescent shape, like so:

    Watercolor Lettering + Free eWallpaper | The Postman's Knock

    Then paint leaves on either side of the shape.

    Watercolor Lettering + Free eWallpaper | The Postman's Knock

    I like painting one class of elements at a time, mainly because it means I don’t have to clean the paintbrush thoroughly to accommodate using another color. Unidentifiable pink flowers {because I don’t know how else to refer to them} are simple to make, too. Just draw an outline that looks roughly like this:

    Watercolor Lettering + Free eWallpaper | The Postman's Knock

    Next, fill it in.

    Watercolor Lettering + Free eWallpaper | The Postman's Knock

    Same deal here as with the laurel leaves: I like to draw several flowers at a time. As you can see, I’ve oriented them all so they are “bursting” from the quote, as if there was a beautiful flower explosion coming from the words.

    Watercolor Lettering + Free eWallpaper | The Postman's Knock

    I love the contrast of rich turquoises and delicate pinks, so I used a turquoise shade to create leaf outlines under the flower.

    Watercolor Lettering + Free eWallpaper | The Postman's Knock

    Once you draw these outlines, you’ll fill in the leaves with more of your turquoise {or whatever color you like/are using}.

    Watercolor Lettering + Free eWallpaper | The Postman's Knock

    I love embellishing anything with roses, so that was my next step {in a deliciously bright red}. To paint roses, just start with a couple of small dots that are close together, like this:

    Watercolor Lettering + Free eWallpaper | The Postman's Knock

    Then, draw a few shapes around it that are largely amorphous, but sort of resemble kidney beans.

    Watercolor Lettering + Free eWallpaper | The Postman's Knock

    Finish up with a few more kidney bean-esque shapes, and all of a sudden, you’ve got a surprisingly convincing rose!

    Watercolor Lettering + Free eWallpaper | The Postman's Knock

    Roses can be created in all sizes.

    Watercolor Lettering + Free eWallpaper | The Postman's Knock

    Once you’re finished with roses, it’s time to move on to a wonderful space-filling standby: leaves. I included a variety of different leaves on my piece, making sure they, too, emanated from the text. You can see I also created random dark green dots — which will become the center of pink flowers.

    Watercolor Lettering + Free eWallpaper | The Postman's Knock

    I decided to do pink flowers with green centers, and green flowers with red centers.

    Watercolor Lettering + Free eWallpaper | The Postman's Knock

    At this point, you need to ask yourself if your piece needs something more. If you don’t know whether it does or not, there’s a fool-proof trick: leave it, go to sleep for the evening, and look at it in the morning. It’s uncanny how examining something with fresh eyes can help you to determine exactly what is needed. As far as my piece here, it needed more space fillers. My answer? Dots, created in all four colors that I used to paint the floral embellishments.

    Watercolor Lettering + Free eWallpaper | The Postman's Knock

    And that’s it! This is a very simple watercolor lettering project that will take you 15-20 minutes to create. It’s fun for sketchbooks, projects with kids, or art that you want to gift/sell/hang in your home. Of course, it will also pretty up your smartphone or tablet. To download this graphic for use on your iPhone/iPad, click here.

    Thanks again for reading the TPK blog! There’s some exciting stuff coming up in the next few weeks, including the new Learn for a Latté worksheet, a calligraphy pen giveaway from Rodger’s Pen Box, and a watercolor giveaway from Greenleaf & Blueberry! I can’t wait to give you more details … but I will wait, because I don’t know the details yet, and there’s nothing worse than a detail-less giveaway. 🙂

    Until next time!

    Warmly,

    Lindsey's Signature | The Postman's Knock