Easy Watercolor Quote Painting. This is a creative way to create a pretty watercolor border for a short quote!

Easy Watercolor Quote Painting

Hi, again friends! It’s Torrie here from Fox + Hazel with another really easy & fun watercolor tutorial! This is a creative way to create a pretty border for a short quote to hang up. With fall just around the corner as well I’ve been leaning into my favorite fall colors – mustard and golden yellows, magenta and navy blue. I can’t get enough of them!

Plus, I’m going to show you a really simple way to turn your watercolors into gouache with just one paint. No need to buy all new paints to try out gouache! So, let’s jump into how to create this easy watercolor quote!

Supplies

• hot press 140 lb watercolor paper
• watercolor palette (I’m using the Sakura Koi Field Sketch Kit)
• Coliro Metallic Watercolor Palette
• White gouache
• Round 3 Watercolor paintbrush
• Painter’s tape
• Pencil (not shown)

Step One

First, you will need to take a piece of painter’s tape and place it horizontally across the watercolor paper. You can measure or eyeball it, whatever you prefer!

I recommend painter’s tape over washi or masking tape for two reasons: it is a great width for this project, so you have lots of room to write in that space later. And it will have enough tack to stick to the paper (washi tape is notorious for peeling up) without letting any paint underneath, but will not rip your paper (hi masking tape!)

Step Two

So my secret weapon for turning your watercolor palette into gouache paints is this: use just a tube of white gouache and add to your watercolors. That’s it! It’s honestly such a simple hack and is much more cost effective than buying all new paints. Why gouache? Gouache behaves like watercolors but is more opaque since there is a filler in there. It’s a fun halfway between watercolor and acrylics, and you can create paintings with more opacity than watercolor.

To turn your watercolors into gouache, add a bit of white gouache to a palette, and then mix in a tiny amount to your watercolors. You can add it directly to your paints or mix is separately on a clean palette.

I added white gouache to the shade permanent yellow deep on my palette. Then I went ahead with the Round 3 paintbrush and started painting some basic branches and leaves. This part is entirely up to you with how many branches you want to add. I’m doing a combination of leaves and shorter branches. We will add flowers to these short branches in the next step. (P.S. If your painting isn’t centered perfectly [like mine] that’s fine – you can always trim the paper down later.)

Step Three

After all the leaves have dried, you can go back with some magenta (or quinacridone magenta if you want to know the specific shade) mixed with some white gouache, and add some tiny flowers to those short branches from the last step. They don’t have to be perfect or even a real flower shape! I added 3-5 short dashes in a flower-ish shape to create mine. Then I went back with some Prussian Blue and added a scattering of dots in between and around the branches.

Step Four

To finish off all my branches, I used the palest gold fro my Coliro (formerly Finetec) metallic gold palette to add a few more loose leaves around the foliage. This step is optional, but I just love the hint of gold when the light hits it!

Step Five

Once all your leaves and branches are completely dry, go ahead and peel the tape off! So satisfying! Then using a ruler (if you need to) lightly mark out a line for your quote to be written on. Full disclaimer: I am not a hand lettering pro like Dawn or many of you, so this is just my attempt at it! I penciled out my words first to make sure they fit first. Once I was happy I brush lettered the words using my round 3 brush and some Prussian blue watercolor. And it’s done!

See? Super easy and a fun way to create a watercolor quote painting. You could use this same technique to create cards, place settings, and so much more. I hope you have fun making your own Easy Watercolor Quote Painting!

If you’re looking for more watercolor tutorials and downloads, be sure to check out the posts below on Fox + Hazel!

Free Watercolor Flower Wreaths // Which Is the Best Art Journal? // Easy Watercolor Cactus Tutorial

Meet Torrie, the artist behind Fox + Hazel. She is an artist, graphic designer, wife, & mother of three kids 5 and under.  She shares her artistic endeavors on Instagram and YouTube and shares free art + design goodies on her blog. Through process videos, blogging, and teaching online workshops,  Torrie is passionate about sharing her creativity in hopes of igniting that passion in others.  She loves art journaling, painting, punk music and would have a coffee IV if they existed.