There are so many ways you can use splattered paint flower art. This photo tutorial shows how you can splatter acrylic paint on decorative letters and turn it into flower art.

Supplies:

Decorative Letters (I bought mine at Hobby Lobby.)

Martha Stewart Acrylic Craft Paint or Golden Fluid Acrylics

Brush

Paper palette or paper plate to put paint on.

Decorative Letters With Splattered Paint Flower Art

1. Lay your decorative letter on a protected surface and cover the top part of it with paper towel. (You can see my tips for set up and easy clean up here.) Splatter the bottom area with green acrylic paint. I have the most success with my splatter painting using the brush and fluid acrylic paint listed above. You can see a short video of how I splatter my paint here.
2. Dab purple paint on some of the long splatters to look like delphiniums or larkspur. Keep your dabs light with white space in between.
3. Next add some dabs of yellow and pink to look like small flowers. Mix a little white in and use a mix of lighter and darker pink and yellow to give the flowers dimension. This is an impressionistic style of painting. You are just giving the impression of flowers, not trying to make them look photo real.
4. Use dark brown acrylic paint to add centers to the little pink and yellow flowers. Add some yellow green for some brighter leaves. You may want to add more greens at the bottom so your design looks grounded and doesn’t float. Look to see if it looks balanced. If not add more flowers or green leaves. Don’t fill it in too solid-leave some white space.

Here are some other color combinations you could try.

I’ll be sharing this on Savvy Southern Style.

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Something New!

I tried something new a few weeks ago and it worked! I loaded a brush with acrylic craft paint and splattered it all over mixed media paper in lots of different directions. When the paint dried I added watercolor flowers. I love this new way to create splattered paint flower art! It has so many possibilities and it doesn’t matter if you have long paint splatters or little specks. It all works!

Paint Splatters

Start with piece of mixed media or watercolor paper . You can add masking tape or blue painters tape if you like a nice white border for your finished art. Next splatter acrylic paint in lots of different directions. You can learn more about my splattered paint art, the brush I use and watch of short video of me splattering paint here.

Watercolor Flowers

After the acrylic paint dries its time to have fun and start adding flowers. You can pull ideas from your head or look at photos to get started. I have nice collection of flower photos from vacations and outings close to home I often refer to. I like to use Daniel Smith Watercolors or this Koi set by Sakura. Keep adding flowers and leaves until you feel like your flower art is finished.

6×6 mixed media paper with watercolor flowers and splattered acrylic paint

Why I Love Paint Splatters!

Sometimes when I look at a piece of blank watercolor paper I can’t decide where to start or what to paint. Acrylic paint splatters give me something to start with. It also helps me to let go and be creative filling the spaces between the splatters with flowers and color.

6×6 mixed media paper with watercolor flowers on splattered acrylic paint

On this last design I got brave at the end and filled in around the flowers with some color!  If you do add color to the background make sure the flowers are dry so the color doesn’t bleed.

Happy Splattering!

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A white gel pen can work like magic on a finished watercolor when you need a few highlights. Traditionally when working in watercolors you leave the white of the paper showing when you have a white object or highlights. Sometimes when you paint with watercolor things don’t go as planned and the white space you planned to leave disappears. That is when a white gel pen is a great tool to have!

My Favorite White Gel Pen

I have tried many different white gel pens, but have found the Uni-ball Signo white gel pen to be my favorite. Other brands of gel pens seem to dry out or quit working when they aren’t used very often. I can usually count on the Uni-ball Signo to work every time I need it.

White Highlights

When you just need a touch of white or highlight a gel pen can be an easy way to get the look you want.

I was happy with how these watercolor flowers on splattered acrylic paint turned out, but wanted a few more white highlights.

So I added a few lines with my white gel pen. Its subtle, but it gives it a little more sparkle.5×5 watercolor on splattered acrylic paint

Here I used my white Uni-ball Signo Gel Pen to add some of the needles to this Prickly Pear Watercolor painting.5×7 watercolor

In this painting I used my white gel pen very lightly to add detail to the windows of the cottage and some white flowers and highlights in the garden.5×7 watercolor

Next time you need a little more white in your watercolor painting try using a white gel pen to add a nice finishing touch.

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Today I want to show you how to paint a watercolor gnome in a few easy steps. I recently used a gnome I knit a few years ago as inspiration to paint one in watercolor. I will show you the steps I used to paint this fun little gnome that could be used for a holiday decoration or card.

I love this little gnome I knit a few years ago from an Alan Dart pattern. One night I decided to try painting it in watercolor. I had so much fun with this project that I have now painted several gnomes. Here’s a few photos showing how I painted my next gnome in watercolor.

Supplies:

Daniel Smith watercolors or this set, watercolor paper, Molotow paint pen, mechanical pencil with .3 mm lead, brushes

Instructions:

1. The first photo shows how I drew the simple body shape of the knit gnome. Then I added a hat, arms and other features. I did this example in pink and green to make it easier for you to see.

2. Use a light pencil to sketch your gnome on watercolor paper following the first example. Keep it simple. You can add more details as you paint.

3. Next I added watercolor starting with his hat, then his clothes and boots. When I painted his clothes I had to be careful to leave white for his beard. The last step was painting his nose and adding a little rosy color to his cheeks and some light gray strokes on his beard.

4. When the watercolor was dry I used a white Molotow paint pen to add strands of hair to his beard. (A white gel pen would also work.) After the paint pen dried I added some very fine pencil lines that also looked like the hair in his beard. I kept adding white paint pen then pencil until I was happy with his beard. I also used my pencil to add a thick and thin outline around his hat and in a few other places. To finish I added a shadow under his feet and some paint splatters and snowflakes.

Here’s another gnome I did with a little different hat and pointy shoes. By changing the colors and details you can create a variety of winter or holiday gnomes.

If you like gnomes you may enjoy this book!

This post contains affiliate links.

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Painting a watercolor leprechaun is as easy as 1,2,3 if you follow the steps I am going to show you. I had so much fun painting my watercolor gnome a few months ago. I decided with a few simple changes I could paint a leprechaun in the same way.

Supplies to paint a watercolor leprechaun:

Daniel Smith watercolors or this set, watercolor paper,  mechanical pencil, kneaded eraser, Pigma Micron Pen 01, round brushes

Instructions:

1. The first photo shows the simple body shape I like to start with. This is similar to the gnome tutorial I shared a few months ago.

2. Use a light pencil to sketch your leprechaun on watercolor paper starting with the simple body shape.  Add a hat, beard, clothing and shoe details.

3. When you are happy with your sketch get ready to paint. Paint one area like the beard then while it is drying paint another area like his pants. Let an area dry before you paint next to it. If an area has wet paint and you touch it with wet paint the colors will blend together. After an area dries you may want to go back and add another layer of color giving it some shadow and more depth or detail. Remember with watercolors you work from light to dark building layers of color.

4. When you are happy with how you painted your watercolor leprechaun let it dry completely. Then with an extra fine tip black marker add some details to his beard and outline areas you want to emphasize. Next I did a wash of clear water under his feet then dropped in yellow, red and blue letting the colors run together to make it look like a rainbow puddle under his feet. Last of all I added a few paint splatters just because I like paint splatters.

Isn’t he cute! There are so many ways you can start with the simple body shape and add details to make fun characters to use for holidays or greeting cards.

You will find my Watercolor Gnome tutorial here.

This post contains affiliate links for the products I use and like.

The post Paint A Watercolor Leprechaun In A Few Easy Steps appeared first on My Flower Journal.

A friend recently challenged me to paint an angel in watercolor. This was a bit out of my comfort zone. Painting flowers is what I usually do. Once I started painting my angel I couldn’t stop. So I don’t have any step by step photos for you, but I decided to still share a little of my process with you.I hope this will inspire you to use your creative energy and paint your own angel in watercolor.  I was pleasantly surprised how much I have enjoyed my little angel. I may be painting more angels, but until then I hope this one will brighten your day.

Angel In Watercolor Supplies:

sketch book, pencil, light box, Daniel Smith watercolors, Arches watercolor paper, brushes

Getting Started:

First I sketched this simple angle in my sketchbook. Then I made a copy of it and placed it on my light box and lightly traced it onto my 8×10 piece of watercolor paper. I kept my sketch simple because I wanted it to feel like my angel was emerging out from the watercolor.
The next step was to wet my paper and add washes of yellow and blue and a mix of colors for her arms. I did not wet the area where her face is so I could add the flesh color later. I let the colors run and drip at the bottom. I tried not to mess with this area too much. After the paint dried I went back in and added details and lots of splatters to create texture in the background. I had to stop before I worked on it too much. I love how the colors and textures came together to her a give it a bit of an abstract look.

May you always have angels watching over you!

Happy Painting!

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My inspiration to paint desert cactus and splattered paint flower art cards came from a recent trip to Arizona to visit our daughter and her family. The March weather was beautiful so we spent most of our time outdoors. Every where we went there were cactus and succulents. Some were starting to bloom. After spending the morning at the Desert Botanical Garden I couldn’t wait to get my paints out and try adding cactus to some splattered paint cards I brought with me.

When I travel I like to bring a little on the go paint kit with me. I usually include some watercolor postcards that already have acrylic paint splattered on them. It makes a nice easy on the go project. I like to splatter a lot of cards at the same time so I have some ready for travel or times I feel like painting, but don’t want to splatter. I splatter paint on a variety of sizes: 6×6, 4×6 or 5×7 or even scraps I can use for gift cards. This time the cards I used were 5×7 inches.  *If you aren’t familiar with how I splatter acrylic paint and turn it into flower art go here. You will find a video and lots of FAQ and helpful info.

Supplies:

Sakura Koi Watercolor Field Kit and the brush that comes with it, 5×7 watercolor paper, , white paint marker, mechanical pencil, eraser, paper towel.

Steps To Add Desert Cactus and Splattered Paint Flower art.

1. Add a light pencil sketch of cactus on your watercolor paper that has been splattered wth acrylic paint. Make sure the acrylic paint has had a chance to dry. You can use the photos I have included below as reference.
2. Paint the cactus using a variety of greens. Start to add the flowers.
3. Keep adding more flowers and foliage. Darken some of the cactus pads as needed to give variety. Add sky color and a few watercolor splatters while the sky is damp.
4. When the watercolor is dry use your mechanical pencil to outline a few of the cactus and add some texture to them. Last of all use a white paint pen or white gel pen to add a few dots or needles to the cactus.

Finished 5×7 Desert Cactus and Splattered Paint Flower Art.

Desert Cactus Inspiration Photos

Here are some photos I took at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix AZ. You can use them for inspiration as you paint your own Desert Cactus and Splattered Paint Flower Art. I bought this book, Guess Who’s In The Desert, while we were at the Desert Botanical Gardens. I love the illustrations and my grandkids like reading the clues and guessing which animal will be on the next page. Fun book!

Need help drawing cactus and flowers?

I really like this book from Peggy Dean: Botanical Line Drawing.

This post contains affiliate links for the products I used to create this art.

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Its interesting how different things can trigger a new idea. I recently saw an embroidery book and it gave me the idea to add embroidered flowers to splattered acrylic paint. I used to enjoy doing embroidery, but had put that hobby aside as I pursued other interests. It hadn’t occurred to me to combine it with splattered paint until I saw a book by Kazuko Aoki.

Inspiration

When I saw  the cover of “The Embroidered Garden” by Kazuko Aoki it reminded me of my splattered paint flower art. I wondered if it would work to add embroidered flowers to splattered acrylic paint. It did! My embroidery skills aren’t quite as exquisite as Kazuko Aoki’s but I am happy with my finished piece.

My Process:

1. Starch a piece of good quality muslin or cotton fabric. Cut it larger than the finished size you desire.
2. Cover your fabric with a piece of paper that has an opening cut out the size you want your embroidered design. Tape it in place so it won’t move.
3. Splatter acrylic paint using the methods outlined here.
4. After the paint dries remove the paper and place your fabric in a hoop centering your splattered paint design.
5. Start adding embroidered flowers and leaves in a random natural pattern. I used three strands of DMC floss for my flowers. On some flowers I used two strands of a color combined with one strand of a lighter or darker shade of the color to give it some depth.The Art of of Whimsical Stitching and Embroidery Pocket Guide, are a good resource along with The Embroidered Garden. 
   

   My Finished Embroidered and Splattered Paint Flower Art!

This post contains some affiliate links for products I love and use to create my art.

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Creating botanical line drawings and doodles is a new favorite hobby for me. I have loved working my way through Peggy Dean’s Botanical Line Drawing Book. It has helped me explore new flowers, leaves and other botanicals that I can draw and add to my art. This book makes it very simple to learn how to do botanical line drawings and turn them into doodles and other flower art.

Practice Botanical Line Drawings 

The Botanical Line Drawing book is set up so you can practice right in the book. It has step by step drawings for each plant and a box at the bottom where you can practice drawing the leaf, flower, cactus or succulent shown in the steps above. There is plenty of white space where you can continue to practice. I challenged myself to do one or two pages a day. Sometimes I was having so much fun I just kept going. You can see my drawings in the “draw it” box on the pages below. (Here’s a new edition of Botanical Line Drawing.)

Botanical Doodles

After working my way through Peggy’s book I decided to try some botanical line drawings in a doodle style. I really like the simplicity of working with a piece of paper and a black pen to create flower art. It feels good to just use two simple supplies to be creative. Here are some of my botanical line drawings and doodles. For the doodle above I did just leaves . I love flowers and use them in almost all my art. For this doodle I challenged myself to do something without flowers.

Background Doodles

I find my botanical doodles look more complete when I added some small designs in the negative spaces. It makes them look fuller and gives them more movement and life. Here are some background doodles I like to use.

Have fun creating your own botanical line drawings and doodles!

Learn about my Watercolor Flower Doodles on Splattered Paint.

This post contains affiliate links for products I love and and use.

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I recently discovered how fun it can be to do a mint tin oil painting. It is a great way to practice your oil painting skills and create a little piece of art in a short amount of time. Keep it simple so you don’t get discouraged working on such a small surface.

The first Altoid tin oil painting I saw was done by Heidi Annalise. She has some great tips on her website that I used to get started. I also follow Ashley at Mint Tin Adventures on instagram.

My First Little Painting:

How I painted my second mint tin painting:

When I painted my second butterfly painting I took some progress shots to show how I did it. First I bought some Altoids and dumped out the mints. I washed the tin and put a small stuck a piece of gray palette paper in the bottom with double stick tape.

I covered a 2×3 inch board with 2 coats of gesso. When the gesso was dry I drew my design in pencil using a reference photo I took at the Butterfly Biosphere near our home. I attached the board to the lid of the tin with a mounting square. You could also use a piece of masking tape.

I first painted the butterfly a dark color. Then I added the details of the butterfly working from dark to light building up layers of color. I used two short handled brushes that Ashley with Mint Tin Adventures recommended. You can find them here and here. The last step was to add the background using some of the colors used in the butterfly mixed with white.

Display your little painting:

You can leave your painting in the mint tin with the paints you used and let it dry and display it that way. Or when the painting is dry put it in a small frame. Mount it on top of the glass or mat board using a sticky square so you don’t lose any of the painting behind the frame. The 2×3 inch board fits perfect inside the opening of a 2.5 x 3.5 frame.

You can see more of my tutorials on this page.

Learn about some of my favorite supplies here.

This post contains affiliate links.

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Today I want to show you how to paint a watercolor gnome in a few easy steps. I recently used a gnome I knit a few years ago as inspiration to paint one in watercolor. I will show you the steps I used to paint this fun little gnome that could be used for a holiday decoration or card.

I love this little gnome I knit a few years ago from an Alan Dart pattern. One night I decided to try painting it in watercolor. I had so much fun with this project that I have now painted several gnomes. Here’s a few photos showing how I painted my next gnome in watercolor.

Supplies:

Daniel Smith watercolors or this set, watercolor paper, Molotow paint pen, mechanical pencil with .3 mm lead, brushes

Instructions:

1. The first photo shows how I drew the simple body shape of the knit gnome. Then I added a hat, arms and other features. I did this example in pink and green to make it easier for you to see.

2. Use a light pencil to sketch your gnome on watercolor paper following the first example. Keep it simple. You can add more details as you paint.

3. Next I added watercolor starting with his hat, then his clothes and boots. When I painted his clothes I had to be careful to leave white for his beard. The last step was painting his nose and adding a little rosy color to his cheeks and some light gray strokes on his beard.

4. When the watercolor was dry I used a white Molotow paint pen to add strands of hair to his beard. (A white gel pen would also work.) After the paint pen dried I added some very fine pencil lines that also looked like the hair in his beard. I kept adding white paint pen then pencil until I was happy with his beard. I also used my pencil to add a thick and thin outline around his hat and in a few other places. To finish I added a shadow under his feet and some paint splatters and snowflakes.

Here’s another gnome I did with a little different hat and pointy shoes. By changing the colors and details you can create a variety of winter or holiday gnomes.

Here’s how I created a watercolor leprechaun following the same steps!

If you like gnomes you may enjoy this book!

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Many posts on my site contain Amazon affiliate links. I only share products I use and like. I make a small commission if you make a purchase through these links. I helps keep My Flower Journal running at no extra cost to you!

The post Paint A Watercolor Gnome In A Few Easy Steps appeared first on My Flower Journal.

Last year I painted a little watercolor gnome. This year I used this watercolor gnome to to make a pattern so I could embroider it. You can use my simple gnome drawing to create your own watercolor or embroidered gnome.

This post contains affiliate links for products I used.

Download Gnome Drawing

Right click on it and save it to your device or camera roll.

Watercolor Gnome

Transfer the gnome drawing to watercolor paper using a piece of graphite paper between the pattern and watercolor paper then trace over it with a pen or pencil. Use a kneaded eraser to lighten the graphite lines. Use your watercolors to bring this little gnome to life. You can see details on how I painted another watercolor gnome here.

Embroidered Gnome

Hoop

I sized my drawing to fit in a 6 inch hoop. I covered my outer hoop with a piece of red Christmas fabric. I cut a long strip on the bias and used Modpodge to glue it to the outer hoop. I let it dry completely before I placed the cotton fabric with the design in it.

Cut a piece of white cotton fabric to fit in your hoop. I like to use Kona cotton. Its a nice heavy weight cotton and available at my local Joann’s Fabric store. Use a light box and place the fabric over the drawing. Use a Pilot Frixon pen to trace the gnome drawing. The Frixon pen will disappear with heat. When you are through with your embroidery you can press it with a warm iron or use your blow dryer to apply heat and the pen will disappear like magic.

Stitches

I used three strand of floss for my design. The colors I chose are on the gnome drawing. For the hat brim, nose, body, shoes and mittens do the satin stitch. Chain stitch to make the hat stripes. French nots for the eyes and cuffs. His beard is a made from short and long stitches in shades of gray and white. The snowflakes are made with straight stitches and French nots. You can find lots of embroidery stitch tutorials on Youtube.

Finishing

To finish my embroidery I left it in the hoop and gathered the extra fabric and pulled it to the back then covered the back of the hoop with a piece of 6 inch felt. There are many different methods for finishing the back online.

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Today I want to show you how to paint a watercolor gnome in a few easy steps. I recently used a gnome I knit a few years ago as inspiration to paint one in watercolor. I will show you the steps I used to paint this fun little gnome that could be used for a holiday decoration or card.

When you purchase through links on this site we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. This helps us provide free content for you to enjoy.

Knit Gnome Inspiration

I love this little gnome I knit a few years ago from an Alan Dart pattern. One night I decided to try painting it in watercolor. I had so much fun with this project that I have now painted several gnomes. Here’s a few photos showing how I painted my next gnome in watercolor.

How to paint a watercolor gnome

Supplies:

Daniel Smith watercolors or this set, watercolor paper, Molotow paint pen, mechanical pencil with .3 mm lead, brushes

Instructions:

1. The first photo shows how I drew the simple body shape of the knit gnome. Then I added a hat, arms and other features. I did this example in pink and green to make it easier for you to see.

2. Use a light pencil to sketch your gnome on watercolor paper following the first example. Keep it simple. You can add more details as you paint.

3. Next I added watercolor starting with his hat, then his clothes and boots. When I painted his clothes I had to be careful to leave white for his beard. The last step was painting his nose and adding a little rosy color to his cheeks and some light gray strokes on his beard.

4. When the watercolor was dry I used a white Molotow paint pen to add strands of hair to his beard. (A white gel pen would also work.) After the paint pen dried I added some very fine pencil lines that also looked like the hair in his beard. I kept adding the white paint pen then pencil until I was happy with his beard. I also used my pencil to add a thick and thin outline around his hat and in a few other places. To finish I added a shadow under his feet and some paint splatters and snowflakes.

More gnomes

Here’s another gnome I did with a little different hat and pointy shoes. By changing the colors and details you can create a variety of winter or holiday gnomes.

More ideas

Here’s how I created a watercolor leprechaun following the same steps!

You can learn more about how I painted this little gnome here.

Take a look at my new website!

In August 2020 I started reading online to my grandchildren, who live hundreds of miles away. A few years and over a thousand books later we are still reading together on FaceTime. I created readaloudgrandma.com to help other grandparents that want to have a rewarding experience reading aloud to children they love!

www.readaloudgrandma.com

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