Watercolor Leaf Print

Hello everyone! Bethany here from Whistle and Ivy, and I am so excited to share this lovely and EASY watercolor leaf print today. In the corner of my yard, I have a beautifully whimsical  shrub, with fern-like leaves. I have always thought they were lovely. Since I have been dying to try my hand at a simple watercolor painting, I decided to use the pretty leaves from the shrub to make a print. These watercolor leaf prints turned out better than I had hoped, and once you make one, you will be searching your yard for other pretty things to print as well.

I can’t stop making them.

I think I might completely cover my baby’s walls in pretty watercolor prints!

What you need:

• Watercolor paper (it’s thicker than printer paper, with a bit of texture so it doesn’t warp from the moisture of the paint)
• Watercolors (your choice)
• Paint brush
• Favorite Leaves
• Painters Tape

Start by placing small pieces of rolled painters tape on the front of a few of the leaves. You don’t need to put a piece on each leaf.

Watercolor Leaf Print

Place the leaf face-down on your paper. Gently press the tape, just enough for it to stick. You don’t want to press too firmly or the tape won’t come off cleanly.

One you are ready to paint, start around the leaves first, going from the stem outwards. Be careful not to let your brush go under the leaves.

Continually fill your brush with paint to do the outline of the leaves.

Watercolor Leaf Print

Once the leaves are painted, dip your brush in water and brush it over the painted areas, pulling the paint out. Continue brushing with water only to fill in the rest of your page. Once you’re done, let it air dry. They don’t take long to air out.

You can try all sorts of leaves to get a lovely variety of shapes.

Make sure you don’t fill your brush with too much water or paint. If your paper gets so wet that the water pools, it can flow under the leaves’ edges, giving it a different look.

If you aren’t too keen on this look, you can actually spritz your whole painting with water, and it will blend the colors for you, making the paint pooling look less dramatic.

I love them, and I am already dreaming up a larger-scale print for my front room.

Ready to try watercolor? Share your projects with me on Facebook!
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Until next time,