This tutorial is the third and final installment of the Woodland Watercolor Wreath series; in it, you’ll learn how to make a versatile, whimsical watercolor wreath that features twiggy vines, flowers, leaves, and feathers! While you can follow the tutorial to the letter if you want to, you should also feel free to modify the instructions in order to switch up the appearance of your own wreaths. You can change colors, shapes, and elements to craft a piece that reflects your own unique aesthetic!
In this tutorial, I’ll be painting my wreath on a place card; however, you should feel free to paint your wreath on any paper good! To start, use a small-ish brush (size 00 or so; the brush’s size is engraved in the handle) and brown watercolor paint to draw a wavy oval shape. Make 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:
Paint several twigs (short, curved lines) coming off of the oval and wavy lines.
Next, paint a flower in the bottom left. To do that, you’ll select a color that appeals to you (I have chosen a blue tone called “Vivianite”), 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 (well, except for that first one you painted) should be connected to twigs.
Next, use a nice, earthy green tone to paint leaves around the wreath. You can put the leaves anywhere; they don’t need to be connected to a protruding twig!
Now, use a reddish tone to paint in some berries, which are really just small circles. The berries should hover around twigs.
Use the same reddish tone you used on the berries to paint a rose in the bottom left corner. There are step-by-step instructions on how to make a rose like this in Amazing Envelopes for a Latté, but basically you’ll start by painting a few curved shapes in the center …
… And you’ll continue to paint curved shapes until the flower is nice and full!
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 — with the exception, perhaps, of one in the lower left corner — should all be connected to twigs
You will 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 you just drew. The short lines should taper in as they near the top 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!
Finally, you can use a dip pen and the watercolor calligraphy technique to write something inside of your wreath. The example below shows me writing “Nataly” in Kaitlin Style calligraphy.
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! For example, you could make a wedding invitation that features this watercolor wreath as a border. All you need to do is digitize the wreath and design the invitation; you can learn how to do that in the recently-released Digitizing Artwork and Calligraphy eCourse. Naturally, there’s also a place for a wreath like this on mail art!
The wreath on this envelope isn’t identical to the one on the place card, but the concept is exactly the same: twigs, flowers, leaves, and berries. The wreath frames the recipient’s Sans Serif name beautifully, and it is complemented by an address written in watercolor Janet Style calligraphy featuring the two predominant colors of the wreath (brown and blue).
I absolutely love the watercolor wreath concepts in Part I and Part II of this series, but this last wreath is probably 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!
Thanks so much for reading the Watercolor Wreath series, and don’t forget to enter the international giveaway for artist-grade watercolors in Part I! The giveaway ends at 11:59 PM MDT (Denver, CO, timezone) this coming Monday, so you’ve still got time. 🙂 I hope you have a great weekend, and that you give this tutorial a try!
Warmly,
I was so pleased with the ease of creating these beautiful placecards! My family was jazzed with the handpainted effort. I did not have enough practice time to get the calligraphy worked out as hoped, but just the watercolored wreaths were more than enough to add to the lovely table setting! Thanks for the guidance and next time, the calligraphy will be incorporated!
I knew I would find the answers I needed by browsing your website!! I’m assigned the place cards for my mother’s 90th birthday celebration in March and these wreaths will be beautiful and special. What size paper did you use for the place cards? Did you tear the edges or is there a place I can order the paper with the already deckled? I’m looking very forward to impressing my family come March!
Thank you so much for the information. I LOVE seeing the photos of Remy! He’s changing so fast!
Hi Cathering! I’m face-palming at how ridiculously late this response is — and I know it’s too late to help you, but I hope that I can help others with the same question. 🙂 I used Medioevalis place cards, which come pre-deckled. Medioevalis is an artisan Italian brand, and they make absolutely “scrumptious”, high-quality papers!
Thank you for the clear step-by-step instructions! It makes these beautiful projects feel very do-able.
I’m new to your blog (and currently fangirl-ing and catching up to date!), and I was wanting to know about the paper you used in this one! Did you purchase the paper with the rough edges, or did you rough them up yourself? That’s the look I would love for my wedding invitations, but I’m not sure where to find paper that looks like that! I purchased a sample of some cotton paper from etsy but my ink bled like crazy.
And just so you know, I had become rather burnt out recently while trying to create the perfect look for my wedding invitations, and I was at the point of settling even though I wasn’t 100% pleased, but your work has inspired me 🙂 After reading through your posts, I decided to invest in some nice calligraphy nibs and stop using my Michaels bought set, and I can’t wait for them to arrive so I can tackle my invitations again and create something unique and beautiful! So, thank you for the inspiration 🙂 Your work is unbelievably beautiful!
I did purchase it! It’s a brand called Medioevalis from twohandspaperie.com. 🙂 I’m so happy you’re inspired to continue! I’m afraid that I, too, was discouraged after using the cheapie stuff I had purchased at Michael’s. I’m glad that I eventually found some better supplies; it makes a world of difference!
I had a go! Thank you for the tutorial. https://fatdormouse.wordpress.com/2016/04/23/poetry-and-bookmarks/
You did a fantastic job! I wouldn’t call the branches “meh” at all! 🙂
this is so cool! I have been loving your blog and following your giveaways diligently… and the other day I finally broke down and bought some of the pdfs I’ve had my eye on for a while! I was curious if you’d ever do an underwater themed wreath! I just love everything ocean & sea & beach related! Maybe seaweed instead of branches and anemone and starfish instead of flowers? I am not that great at drawing but I think you’d be able to whip it up in a jiffy!
Beautiful and inspiring as always! By the way: the brush in the first picture is really cool…
Thank you — I got it from Greenleaf & Blueberry! I know Jess has a hard time keeping them in stock because they are so neat. 🙂
A lovely set of tutorials…..I am going to go against the flow and say that the first two are my favourites!
I have had great fun trying all of these wreaths out and adapting them in different ways and can see them in all sorts of uses.
Thank you!
I am really happy to hear that you tried out the wreaths (and that you loved the first two tutorials)! It always makes me glad when the tutorials are put to get use. 🙂
Thank you so much for you blog. You have inspired me to get my first calligraphy pen and filled me with inspiration. My sister and I are preparing for her wedding and these tutorials are really helping me to keep things unique. If you are open to suggestions, maybe ocean/ beach theme borders. I don’t think they have ever been done before and I don’t know where to begin. (That’s my sisters wedding theme.)
Oh, I love the suggestion of beach-inspired artwork/borders — that just went in my “blog post ideas” list. 🙂 Thank you!!
That is such a sweet wreath, Thanks for breaking down the steps and making it look much easier when you can look one thing at a time, instead of focusing on the whole complex composition! 🙂
As it goes in life, so it goes in art: you can do anything as long as you approach it one step at a time! 🙂
Love the one step at a time photos.
Very nice.
Thanks, Mark! I try to be thorough because those are the kind of instructions that I like! 🙂
Thanks for this tutorial. I’m going to try something like this out on the next letter I send to my grandparents. My grandma would love receiving something this pretty in the mail!
http://classicsidewalk.com
It will be gorgeous, and she’ll absolutely adore it! 🙂
I love this, so pretty!
Thanks very much, Andrea! This is my favorite wreath in the series, for sure. 🙂
wo!! this I beautiful.with many of your tutorials this one once again is very doable. with this current series though ive actually felt able to attempt them. thanksyou so much. I have the others you’ve done saved in a folder in my email. so to actually now attempt these three has been a most lovely feeling.
your work is stunning.
because I don’t have watercolours as I cant afford them could I do in black and whitw with my biro,or in my coloured pencils.
as I also recently got a set of tombow brush pens for xmas how could I do it with them?
I have just read your comment and thought I would say that I have used Tombow markers to do these wreaths and they look very nice.You can use the markers as they are with the two tips as the brush end makes lovely leaf shapes anyway.There are lots of tutorials out there to show you how to do this.Also if you scribble out some of the colour from the marker onto a palette of some kind you can then use a normal brush to pick up the colour and get a lovely watercolour effect.You can use Distress ink pads in this way too.Just have fun trying with the supplies you have you might be surprised
Hope this helps!
Catherine.
Thanks *so* much for giving input, Catherine! Kate, I agree wholeheartedly with what Catherine has said.
Hi, Lindsey! I loved this series! Today’s (Part III) wreath is my favorite of the Woodland Wreaths series. I agree with Corilyn’s comment: “You make it look so easy!” As always, thanks for sharing and have a lovely weekend!
Aw, thanks, Jo! I like the timing of these wreath tutorials with the beginning of spring … it’s nice to paint botanical elements when you can actually see them — and not snow — out your window!
Thank you, Lindsey, for this Woodland Wreath Tutorial Series. I think it is my favorite one so far. I can see so much potential for each and every one of these wreaths, and you definitely simplify it enough for all of us to grasp it. Thank you for your generous sharing spirit. I absolutely enjoy everything you post……Have a great weekend…….Linda E.
I agree, Linda! This one is definitely my favorite … there’s a lot of potential to change it to suit exactly what you are working on! 🙂 Thank you for the kind words!
Beautyful- thanks for sharing.
It’s my pleasure! Thanks for reading, Dörthe!
Beautiful! You make it look so easy!
Trust me, it *is* so easy! Give it a shot! 🙂
Oh, this one is my favorite of the three! So lovely! The feathers are so unexpected!