Watercolor painting is today’s topic. I’m writing to you as someone who appreciates the skill of a talented watercolor artist. I’m not one of those people. I’m a dabbler who’s still learning. My goal is simply to stir some interest and awaken you to the possibilities available.

Watercolor is a wonderful medium that combines beautifully with what we touched on last week: hand lettering. You don’t have to be a wonderfully talented artist to get some enjoyment from this activity. And you don’t have to possess a lot of skill in order to produce some pretty things.

With a little basic know-how you’ll be able to create your own note cards, paper goods or art to hang in your home. Painting with watercolors is an exercise in letting go. The fluidity of the paint tends towards unpredictability, which can be part of the fun, as long as you adopt a relaxed attitude during the process. That can be a good life lesson, as well!

To get started, here’s what you’ll need:

· Watercolor paints

· Brushes (I got a variety pack of both round and flat brushes, sizes 6-18)

· Watercolor paper (the thicker the better)

· A jar of water

· Paper towels for blotting

I would encourage you to begin by keeping a simple art journal- something to play around in with different techniques. If you want, you can start by decorating the cover.

I made a cover for my journal using a combination of acrylic white paint (so I could start with a blank canvas) washi tape, stickers, scrapbook paper, glue, pen, and watercolors.

The original inspiration for my journal cover came from a tutorial at Little Girl Designs.

After you have your journal ready, it’s time to start playing around with some various techniques. You can achieve a wide variety of effects with watercolors using the transparency of the medium and blending. Try out different brushes. See what happens when you blot some of the paint away. Experiment by adding elements such as salt. See the difference in the saturation of colors when you put a few drops of hot water on your color cake and let it sit for a minute before swirling the brush in it. Compare that to the more muted tones you’ll get when you dip your brush in water and then onto the dry cake of color. Record these experiments in your journal.

For a detailed how to of 8 watercolor techniques, you might want to check out this blog post at Adventures in Making .

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes! Watercolors are very forgiving. Oftentimes, if you add something and decide you don’t like it, when it’s still wet, you can dab a little more water on it, dab a tissue on top of that, and it goes away.

I’m learning to make some basic flower shapes- which are pretty and don’t take a lot of skill. I found a tutorial that was quite helpful at TPK (The Postman’s Knock).

A simple color wash with overlapping shades looks so pretty with hand lettering on top of it. You can use watercolors to do the lettering or you can wait until it dries and use ink.

Whatever you choose to do with your painting, have fun and relax. I keep my watercolor supplies in a basket by my desk. I like to paint when I need a mental break. It’s like turning on a different part of my brain- and the creativity that starts to flow carries over into other areas, helping me be a better problem solver in general. Painting also gives me time to think and some space away from screens, which is always helpful. I believe that these benefits are available to anyone who gives it a try.

I made a short 1-minute video that walks through my art journal,

beginning with watercolors from dawn klinge on Vimeo.

One more thing, if you have kiddos, watercolor painting is fun for them, too! When my kids were small, I would get them liquid watercolors and very large pieces of thick watercolor paper for them, letting them use a technique called “wet on wet watercolor painting”. By the time they were finished painting, the end product always ended up looking like a pretty color wash. The paper was beautiful so I would often “recycle” the paintings, cutting them up and turning them into cards and gift tags. Another thing to do with the color washed paper is to cut them out into cute shapes and frame them.

Turn on some music you love. Get out the paints and be creative!

To download today's PDF, click HERE

If you would like to participate in today's discussion, maybe you'd like to share, in the comments, when was the last time you tried watercolor paints?

CREATE: Watercolors