Watercolor Flowers on Book Paper

Hello friends! I hope you are well! The cold continues here and I was in the mood for some spring flowers. Have you ever tried to watercolor directly on old book paper? It is a lot of fun.

I made three tags for this tutorial, but the technique works great for cardmaking or art journaling too. You can also color and then cut out the images, so the entire background doesn't have to be a book page. I like to give old books a new life by using them in my art. Many secondhand shops get so many books that they throw some of them away.

Die cut tags from old book paper. Depending on the quality and feel of the paper, you will get slightly different results when you paint. Experiment and see what you like best. Some papers will absorb more paint than others.

Stamp flowers, grass and butterflies on the tags with the Simon Says Stamp Thoughtful Flowers set. You need to use a waterproof ink.

 

Watercolor the images and aim for a loose look. Leave some of the paper showing and don't worry about staying perfectly within the lines. Add shading for a dimensional look. I used a different approach for the snowdrop tag, since I wanted the white flower to stand out from the background. That background was painted blue, while the others were left as they were. The darker background on the snowdrop tag makes the snowdrop appear lighter. It is a good technique to use for white flowers.

When dry, add details and highlights with a black pen and a white gel pen. I added some lines, deepened the shadows and drew more strands of grass. I used the white pen to make the snowdrop look whiter against the backdrop.

Splatter both colored and black dots on the background using Scribble Sticks. Dip a Scribble Stick in water and flick a paint brush against it.

I am looking forward to spotting Crocus flowers, but it is still some time away, as you can see on the backdrop of this photo. It looks like a white paper, but it is in fact snow. You can easily cut out the Crocus flower and place it on a different background.

Letting some of the paper show through adds life and highlights to your flower. 

The splattering was done in the same colors used for the coloring, with the addition of black.

The sentiment comes from the Simon Says Stamp Laugh In Flowers set.

Buttercups will take even longer before they start appearing, but are always such fun flowers to use on projects. 

Since watercolor paints are transparent, they will take on the tone of the background paper, looking more muted than if you would use the same shade on white paper.

Sometimes it is funny to read the text that ends up in the background, such as 'absurd nose'.

I added more texture at the grassy area of the tags, with more splatters and more pen marks. The sentiment comes from Simon Says Stamp Anna's Flowers.

The snowdrops will be the first flowers to appear and I believe my Mom has seen some already. I used an old book about gardening for this tag.

White flowers are a challenge to paint with watercolors. A darker color painted around them makes them look lighter. I also used the white gel pen on the flower. Don't forget that even white flowers have shadows and darker areas.

The sentiments were stamped on left-over book paper. I like to use the margins for this. This sentiment comes from Laugh In Flowers.

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by here today! 

Happy crafting!

Anna-Karin

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