Father’s Day Watercolor Card
Are you looking for a fun and simple Father’s Day project? Have you wanted to try out watercolor, but don’t know where to start? Well, give this Father’s Day watercolor card a go! It is simple and perfect for beginners and experienced watercolor artists alike.
I am always on the lookout for new and fun projects to do for each special holiday. That is why I came up with this card! My own dad loves to go up to the mountains and spend time camping by a lake. I grew up camping and waterskiing and have so many wonderful memories with my dad up in the mountains. I knew right away that he would love this card.
Most importantly, this Father’s Day watercolor card is super simple and lots of fun! I will teach you some fun watercolor techniques that I have come to love and you will come out with a beautiful card for your father! Let’s get started!
What You Will Need:
- Strathmore Watercolor cards (I use these by Strathmore)
- Watercolor brushes (I recommend a size 6 and size 2 for this project)
- Watercolor paint (palate or tube – we will be using blues, greens, and browns)
- Paint palate (if you are using tube watercolors)
- Paper towels to wipe your brush on
- Permanent, waterproof black pen (I love these by Micron)
- Pencil (regular or mechanical)
- A good eraser
- A small glass of water to clean your brushes
The first thing you will want to do it gather all of your materials and find a large enough space that will give you room to spread out. Make sure that the space you are in has good light. Natural light is the best, but any good light will work.
*Before you begin to paint on the card, I would recommend practicing on a plain piece of watercolor paper first.
Steps:
1. First, We will be starting with blue to paint the water.
For this, you will be using a technique called a wet on wet “watercolor wash”. First, you will take your clean, size 6 brush and dip it into your cup of water to wet it. Wet the paper where you will have your water. (I started my water slightly below the center of the card) Once you have wet your paper, dip your brush in the blue paint of your choice and then spread it over the water wash left to right.
Watch how it will blend with the water creating a beautiful wash effect. It will feather and diffuse throughout the wet area making it go from dark where you initially put the brush to the paper to lighter. Have fun with it! There isn’t a right or wrong way. The more you practice, the more comfortable you will feet! I promise it is not as scary as you may think!
2. Secondly, we will use green for the pine trees.
You can use any green that calls to you. I used Winsor and Newton Viridian Hue, Sap Green, and mixed in Burnt Umber to darken some of the areas for shading. You can pick one green or mix some together to find a green that you like. Play around with it and have fun!
To begin, I will start at the top of the tree and work my way down making small brush strokes from the center (trunk of the tree) out to the tips on both sides. I did this all the way down to where the green hit the water. Then I went back and filled in the trees to my liking. It is all personal preference. I made some of my trees taller than others. I even put a few trees in the back and made sure to make them lighter to look like they were further away. Try it out and see what you like.
3. Next, I let my project dry.
Once it was dry, I looked at it and was able to see some areas that I wanted to alter. I darkened the largest tree at the front and then added some darker areas on some of the other areas to look like they were shaded. Again, this is your personal preference. No matter what, it will be beautiful!
4. Let the project dry completely again. Lastly, you will be writing your Father’s Day note on the front.
I wrote Happy Father’s Day on the front of mine, but feel free to change your’s up to be more personal for your own dad.
To begin, I lightly sketched the words out using a pencil. This is a crucial step! If you write it too dark at the beginning, you won’t be able to erase and fix any mistakes. To begin, start out as light as you can, and then when you feel it looks good, go over it using your black pen/fine-tip marker.
And there you have it – an easy, but fun and creative Father’s Day watercolor card! The best part of this is that you can use it for other cards as well. Maybe a friend would like something similar on their birthday card? Once you have the techniques down, you can experiment with different colors and designs on your cards!
I would love to see how your project comes out! Comment below to let me know how you liked the project and make sure to subscribe to receive more fun watercolor projects! In addition, if you are looking for another fun project, try this ocean diorama!
