Watercolor Wild Flowers Greeting Cards

Step-by-Step Instructions:

Prepare Your Workspace: Set up your workspace with all your supplies within easy reach. Place a piece of watercolor paper on a flat surface and secure it with masking tape to prevent it from shifting while you paint. I like to tape the card right to the table, but you can also use a clip board. 

Sketch Your Design: Lightly sketch your desired flower arrangement onto the watercolor paper using a pencil. Start with simple shapes for the flowers, leaves, and stems, and refine the details as needed. If you are brave you can skip sketching and go straight from paint to paper. 

Mix Your Paints: Water water water, more water. Remember adding water will make the color lighter this is good! If your paints are in little pans, use a squirt bottle to add lots of water to get the color going. For tubes squeeze out your chosen watercolor paints onto your palette and mix them with water to achieve the desired consistency. Experiment with different ratios of paint to water to create varying shades and intensities. 

Paint the Flowers: Begin painting the flowers using a wet-on-dry technique, starting with the lightest color as the base layer and gradually adding darker shades for depth and dimension. Use the tip of your brush to create delicate petals and blend colors together seamlessly.

Add Details: Once the base layers are dry, add details such as veining on the petals, stamens in the center of the flowers, and highlights for added realism. Take your time and work slowly to ensure precision and accuracy.

Paint the Leaves and Stems: Paint the leaves and stems using varying shades of green, allowing the colors to blend and bleed together for a natural effect. Use a combination of wet-on-wet and wet-on-dry techniques to create texture and depth. Quick light brush strokes can add movement to petals and leaves.

Let It Dry: Allow your watercolor painting to dry completely before handling it or adding any additional embellishments. 

Assemble Your Greeting Card: Once your watercolor painting is dry, carefully remove the masking tape and trim the edges of the paper if necessary. Remove tape slowly from edges. Mount the painting onto a blank greeting card using double-sided adhesive or glue if you aren't using pre-made card and add a personal message inside to complete your handmade masterpiece. Log your the flower name you have painted, add the year painted and your signature.

Share Your Artistic Creations:

Now that you've mastered the art of painting watercolor flowers on greeting cards, unleash your creativity and experiment with different flower varieties, color combinations, and compositions. Use the color wheel to decide what flower varieties would look best together. Purple compliments yellow/orange and so on.

Whether you're creating cards for special occasions or simply sending a heartfelt note to a loved one, your hand-painted floral creations are sure to be cherished and admired. So grab your brushes, let your imagination bloom, and spread joy with each fearless brushstroke!

I highly recommend this book by Sushma Hedge, Wildflower Watercolor. This is the best water color, how to book I have ever read, including what paint colors, and brushes you need to successfully paint flowers. I love to work on water color greeting cards because I can tape them down to my desk and there is no pressure to use the paper or fear of wasting the paper if it doesn't turn out well. It's a great way to get started in watercolor, and learn flower names along the way.