Sometimes the most joyful art projects happen when you let go of expectations and just play with color. This watercolor piece is exactly that: a vibrant rainbow background blended with loose florals on top. It’s bold, bright, and carefree… just like tie-dye!
Prep your piece by taping off the edges of your art journal page with painter’s tape. Wake up those watercolor paints with a good mist of water or a wet brush. Let them sit for 30 seconds so they’re rich and ready to use.
Lightly wet your paper with clean water – this is the wet-on-wet technique.
Now start dropping in rainbow colors:
- Bright yellows
- Bold pinks and reds
- Deep blues and purples
- Pops of green and orange
Let the colors swirl, overlap, and blend like tie-dye fabric. Don’t try to control them – just let them dance across the page. If water pools, blot your brush on a paper towel and gently lift the excess. Dry with a heat tool.
Once the background has dried completely, it’s time to add the florals. Using a black pen, I sketched in loose flowers. My petals turned into slightly wonky cone flower shapes with long stems and droopy leaves, but yours might look completely different, and that’s the fun of it. Don’t worry about drawing “perfect” flowers. Scribble, let your lines overlap, and let the pen capture the energy of the page.
Using a stencil brush, I dabbed a little black acrylic paint into the flower centers, giving them that fuzzy, textured look. A second pass with the pen added more movement and definition to the petals and leaves. For a final bit of magic, I brushed on some metallic shimmer to the flower centers.
I’ll also take my pen and trace a border around the entire piece. I’ll also grab a liner brush with some Titanium White acrylic paint and add soem texture lines to the flower petals.
Once the flowers felt complete, I pulled off the painter’s tape to reveal crisp borders and admired the finished piece!
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Supply List:
- 5.5 X 8.5 Indigo Watercolor Journal
- Painter’s Tape
- Watercolors: The Classics, Tropicals & Essence
- Brushes: Tracy Weinzapfel Set 2
- Foam Detailer
- Decoart Media Acrylic Paint: Carbon Black & Titanium White
Check out Tracy’s Art Journal Starter Kit!
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