Your cart is currently empty!
You Are Already Logged in
Whimsical Woodland Watercolor Wreath Tutorial
This tutorial features a simple watercolor wreath that you can modify to use on any paper good. From wedding invitations to place cards to mail art, this wreath will add gorgeous artistic flair!
Cozy winters and watercolor wreaths go hand-in-hand. This particular wreath features muted, elegant colors and pretty florals that act as a wonderful ode to the season! Today, I’ll walk you through how to make this twiggy and eye-catching wreath.
1. Paint a Woodsy Watercolor Wreath Outline
First, grab a piece of paper that does well with watercolor. Then, use a small-ish brush (size 00 is good) and brown watercolor paint to draw a wavy oval shape. Be sure to leave an opening in the lower left corner of the shape; you’ll be painting flowers there later. Paint a couple of additional lines that weave through the wavy oval, as shown below:
I’m painting my wreath on a Medioevalis place card. Feel free to make your wreath on any piece of paper that does well with watercolor! (Watercolor paper, sketchbooks, and handmade cotton paper are all excellent choices.) Now, paint several short, curved lines coming off of the oval and wavy lines.
These new little lines represent twigs. 2. Paint Blue Flowers
Next, paint a flower in the bottom left. To do that, you’ll select a muted blue color, and paint five petals as shown below:
Use your paintbrush to dab additional dots of color around those central five petals.
Finish up by dabbing color around the petals until the flower looks like a peony.
Add several other blue peonies to random places around the wreath. All of the peonies (except for that first one you painted) should connect to twigs.
3. Paint Leaves
Now, use an earthy green tone to paint leaves around the wreath. Each leaf should either connect to a twig or a branch.
Try to paint these little leaves in an almond shape. 4. Add Berries
Next, use a reddish tone to paint some berries, which are really just small circles. The berries should hover around twigs that don’t have leaves or flowers connected to them yet.
5. Add a Rose
Use the same reddish tone you used on the berries to paint a single rose in the bottom left corner of the wreath. To do that, start by painting a few curved shapes in the center of the flower.
Then, continue to paint curved shapes until the rose is nice and full!
6. Paint Yellow Flowers
Once you’re finished with the rose, use a yellow tone of watercolor paint to create a few simple flowers around the wreath. The yellow flowers should all connect to twigs.
These yellow flowers should have five or six unconnected almond-shaped petals. 7. Finish Up With Feathers
Now, you’ll finish up your watercolor wreath by painting a feather! Start by making a slightly curved line using a gray-ish hue of watercolor.
Next, add a series of short lines to the left side of the curved line that you just painted. The short lines should taper as they near the tip of the feather.
To complete your feather, paint tapered lines on the right side as well.
Add a couple more feathers throughout the watercolor wreath for good measure!
8. Add Calligraphy or Lettering to Your Watercolor Wreath
Once you’re finished making your woodland watercolor wreath, you can use a dip pen and the watercolor calligraphy technique to write something on the inside. Today, I chose to write “Nataly” in Kaitlin Style calligraphy.
It’s best to use a color from the wreath to write your watercolor calligraphy. I am echoing the faded blue tone of the first flowers that I painted to write “Nataly” here.
Use Your Watercolor Wreath for Anything!
Though this blog post highlights using the watercolor wreath described above on a place card, this is a versatile wreath that will look great anywhere! Naturally, there’s also a place for a wreath like this on mail art:
I used Sans Serif Lettering to write my recipient’s name and Janet Style calligraphy to write their address on this envelope. The watercolor calligraphy utilizes brown and blue tones, which you can achieve by alternately applying those colors to your nib. The wreath on my mail art isn’t identical to the one on the place card, but the concept is exactly the same: twigs, flowers, leaves, and berries.
There are several watercolor wreath tutorials on this site, but this one is my favorite because you can easily change its shape, its colors, and its elements. The wreath would happily accommodate black-eyed Susan flowers, maple leaves, blueberries … whatever you like, you can throw it in there! Happy painting, and thanks so much for reading!
Warmly,
