Watercolor and More card demo

Easy Greeting Card Demos

Abstract Greeting Card Demo

Tip: Create your card at the same time you are working on another acrylic painting project. That way the colors on your palette with already be harmonizing. The abstract card is a great way to use up extra paint on your palette. This project uses techniques similar to the abstract canvases shown on the Demos page.

Supplies:

* Watercolor paper. The paper should be larger than your intended card size, but small enough to fit within a flat paint palette. I used a piece of cold-press 300 lb.

* White acylic gesso, such as

* Foam brush

* Masking fluid. I often use Tear Mender Fabric & Leather Repair Adhesive, found in hardware stores.

I used this plastic palette because the bottom is flat and large enough for my piece of watercolor paper to fit in it. Place a piece of disposable palette paper or waxed paper on the bottom of the palette.

* Acrylic paints. I prefer the texture of

* Paper cutter or scissors

Procedure:

1. Apply a layer of white acrylic gesso with a foam brush to one side of the watercolor paper. Allow this to dry completely.

2. Drizzle, splatter or drip masking fluid over portions of the gessoed side of the paper, creating abstract designs. Allow this to dry completely.

3. Squeeze out a small amount of red, blue and yellow acrylic paint on the palette. Thin the paints with water. Use a clean foam brush to moisten the gessoed surface of the paper with water. While it is still wet, apply thin layers of acrylic paint with the foam brush, allowing the paint to move around and blend on the paper. This layer of paint should be very thin and transparent. Paint blooms and irregular spots are perfectly fine for this abstract method. Allow this to dry. Remove the masking fluid.

4. For the next stage, I usually use the wet paints leftover on my palette from a recent painting project because:

* The colors are already harmonizing.

* There may be interesting blends of color on the palette.

* The size of the paint puddles vary.

* The textures of the paint puddles might also vary a little.

If you are preparing a new palette, start with small amounts of several paint colors - a teaspoon or less of each color. You can add more later, if necessary. Place the paints randomly around the palette, keeping each color separate.Thin the paints with water to the consistency of egg yolk.

5. Place the gessoed side of the watercolor paper down onto the paint on the palette and gently press the back of the paper. Without twisting the paper, lift it straight up off of the palette. You may need to use one hand to hold the disposable palette paper in place. Keeping the gessoed side down, turn the watercolor paper and press it down again onto the palette. Repeat this process until you get the desired amount of paint and abstract design on your paper. Allow the paint to dry completely.

6. As an alternative to steps 4 and 5, press the prepared watercolor paper onto the surface of a freshly painted acylic painting (preferably an experimental piece that you aren't concerned about keeping). Lift the paper straight up off of the painting, turn it and press it down again, repeating until you have the effect you want. Allow the paint to dry completely.

7. Examine the abstract painting on your watercolor paper for the best composition and size for a card. Use a paper cutter or scissors to cut the full size (before it's folded) of the card. If your paper cutter has a scoring feature, use this to score a fold in the middle of the card. Otherwise, use a straightedge to fold the card in half. Your card will have a design on both the front and the back. Write your message on the inside.

For my card, I started with an 11.25" x 14" piece of watercolor paper. After the paint process was complete, I cropped the following portion, which measures 11" x 4.75". The left half of this image is the back of the card; the right half is the front.

Christmas Greetings by Janice Tingum

GROUPON

Christmas Tree
Greeting Card Demo

Art Supplies:

* One package of white Strathmore 5" x 7" Blank Cards and Envelopes

* Your choice of three to five transparent watercolor paints. I recommend Winsor & Newton Cotman and Artists' tube paints. This example used violet, green and red paints. As the colors blend into each other, more colors will emerge.

* A half-inch flat brush.

* Water container

* Water

* A toothbrush for spattering paint.

* Paint palette

Procedure:

1. Paper - Secure one blank card to a flat painting surface with removable painter's tape.

2. Paints - Prepare each color in a separate well on a palette using only a small amount of the paint (about the size of a little fingertip). Moisten the paint with water and mix with a brush to an inky consistency. Clean the brush well before mixing the next color. After the paints are ready, refill the water container with clean water.

3. Using a clean half-inch flat brush, dip it into the clean water. Holding the wet brush perpendicular to the paper, "draw" the tree design onto the paper. Start at the top of the tree and work downwards in a zig-zag motion, leaving a few gaps between lines.

4. As soon as the water drawing is in place, dip the brush into one of the pre-mixed colors and then gently tap the brush at various spots on the wet tree design. The paint will immediately start to run along the water design. Quickly rinse the brush and dip it into another color. Again, tap the brush onto the wet tree design. Repeat the process with the selected colors. To assist the blending, gently tip the card in different directions.

5. Spattering. When the tree painting has dried, dip the bristles of a discarded toothbrush into one of the paints. With the bristles facing the paper, scrape the bristles with a finger or small object. Allow to dry.

6. Experiment with different color combinations and tree patterns with the rest of the blank cards.

Christmas Gifts

Acrylic paint on YUPO synthetic paper

Supplies:

* One sheet of YUPO synthetic paper 10" x 5". I used a sheet from a 9x12 inch 74 lb. smooth finish YUPO 10-sheet pad and cut it down to card size after the painting was completed. Paint the image on your sheet so that when the paint is dry the paper can be folded in half to create a greeting card.

* Red, blue, yellow and green acrylic paints. I used Holbein brand Acryla paints in the following colors: Flame Red, Katsura Blue, Cadmium Yellow Light and Hooker's Green. The paints will be diluted with water, so only a small amount is needed. I used acrylic paints because, once they are dry, they are permanent and will not be disturbed by future handling of the card.

* Half-inch flat brush

* Round brush with a sharp point - about size 6

* Red watercolor pencil

* Table salt

* Water

Procedure:

1. Secure paper to flat painting surface with removable tape. Trace or sketch the drawing shown on the left with the watercolor pencil. If you want to embelish the packages with ribbons or designs, you can sketch these, too. I didn't draw in every branch and needle, but just enough to guide the overall design.

Sketch with watercolor pencil

2. Paints - squeeze out a small amount of each color of paint and spritz with water. Dilute the paint to match the intensity of color you desire.

3. Bottom package: With a clean brush, moisten the inside of the bottom package with water. Then, pick up blue paint with the brush and dap the paint onto the wet package. Use the brush to work the paint to the edges of the package. While the paint is still wet, sprinkle with a little table salt. Since acrylic paints dry quickly, don't wait too long to apply the salt. After the paint is dry, brush off the excess salt.

4. Middle package: If you want to embellish this box with ribbons and a design, lightly sketch those onto the package. I chose to create a pattern of small white shapes and white ribbon. This is a good way to allow the brightness of the YUPO paper to shine through and become part of the painting. Using the red paint and a round brush, paint around the ribbon and design. Allow to dry before going to the next step.

5. Top package: First, paint the ribbon pattern and bow on top with red paint. When this was dry, paint the yellow area. Let dry.

6. Tree branches: Primarily use green paint on the branches, but apply blue paint in select areas to add variety and depth to the branches. Paint branches over and between the sketched branches to achieve the desired amount of fullness.

Other options: Allow different colors to blend, wet-in-wet, on the packages. Experiment, first, on a separate sheet of paper.

This same design works with watercolor paints on traditional watercolor paper.

Want to learn more about painting on YUPO synthetic paper? Go to the YUPO paper demo page.

Watercolor & More is a Dick Blick Affiliate.

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YUPO is a registered trademark.

Watercolor & More!

by Janice Tingum