4 Watercolor Techniques

 

                                     

This card is full of watercolor techniques, 4 different techniques, to be exact: ombre watercolor, ink smooshing, watercoloring embossed images, and watercoloring solid stamped images. Can you spot them? I'll break them down below, but if you'd like to learn more about each technique, check out Stunningly Simple Watercolor Techniques at Altenew Academy. 

1. Ombre watercoloring

     

The background was made with ombre watercoloring, which means the color gradient goes from dark to light. Most of the time you see ombre from top to bottom. For this card, the ombre looks is from outside to inside. I used an oval mask to guide my watercoloring, then removed the mask to finish it off.

 TIP: If your blend needs a little work or it gets too dark towards the center, apply plain water starting at the lightest part. 

      

The large pumpkin was also made with an ombre technique. I painted a panel of watercolor paper with Terracotta orange, dark to light. Later I cut out pumpkin pieces, strategically placing the dies to get different shades on each layer. You can also see the darker color at the top and it fades to lighter. 

2. Smooshing

        

The smaller pumpkin was made with the ink smooshing technique. Any ink can become a watercolor by dabbing some ink on your surface and spraying it with water. Lay the wet watercolor paper in the wet color and watch the colors spread. TIP: Be sure to use colors that will look good if they mix. I used some yellows, oranges, and a little light brown.

 3. Watercoloring Embossed Images

Any outline stamp will work with this technique. I used only part of a large image, Softly Sketched Blooms. Emboss with gold, then wet a section before dropping in color. Watch the color spread! TIP: After finishing one section, work on another section that is not next to it so that the colors don't bleed together. You can also use the tip of a paper towel to soak up extra water.

4. Coloring Solid Stamps

This technique is not for the very beginner unless you use a larger solid stamp. I used the leafy stamp which gave a smaller area. Stamp in a lighter color, then add water carefully with the brush. Be sure to avoid the edges or it will bleed out and give a feathery look. You can apply other shades of that color or add in other colors. I used some red and yellow with the green for fall leaves. Then I fussy cut out the image to tuck under my pumpkin. 

TIP: Be careful not to use too much water close to the edges of the image. My red floral bled out too much as it dried. (See last image under step 3). Rather than starting over, I just rotated the paper and arranged the pumpkins and leaves to cover it at the end. 

Finishing Touches

Add some darker brown ink to the wooden crate die cut with a direct to paper technique. This will allow the wood grain to shine through. 

                 

Cut foliage from various scraps of the smooshed and ombre paper. This orange leaf didn't stand out enough so I smooshed some red on in. I added a little brown ink to the edges of the other foliage. Some leafery was cut from gold foil paper to bring out the gold embossing. 

When assembling the card, I decided to make a 5x7 card so I didn't lose any of the darkest shading at the corners of the background. I added some dimension with foam tape behind the pumpkins and left some leaf edges free to curl up. The sentiment was embossed in gold on a scrap of the paper left from the large pumpkin, so it matches exactly.  Gold sequins tie it together and give a little more shine.  

TIP: The blue background had taken on a lot of water and was warped. You can run it through your die cutting machine to flatten it out. 

Supplies

Altenew: Woodland Wisdom dies (foliage), Gardener's Corner (crate & foliage dies, foliage stamp), Pretty Pumpkins dies, Softly Sketched Blooms stamp, Evergreen Beauty sentiment stamp, Nested Whimsy foliage stamp, 36 pan watercolor set blues & greens, watercolor paper 140 lb cold pressed, Fresh Dye Inks (Caramel Toffee, Amber Blaze, Warm Sunshine, Paper Bag, Melted Butterscotch, Ruby Red, Firefly, Grass Field, Shadow Creek), Clear Embossing ink pad.

Brutus Monroe gilded embossing powder

Concord & 9th neutrals sequins

Hobby Lobby foam tape

Miscellaneous gold foil paper

Challenges:

Ellibelle's Garden Party using anything from a garden 

Girlz Creative Crafts layer it up

Paper Funday Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice

Tic Tac Toe Challenge Fall Colors, Leaves, Metallics