How to Make a Watercolor Christmas Card - Easy Snowy Pine Forest

Steps

1. 1. Tape the Watercolor Paper Panel Down and Pencil the Snowy Hill

   Cut a panel of 140 lb cold press watercolor paper and tape it to your table or a board on all four sides. Low tack masking tape or washi tape works well.

   Tip: Press the tape down firmly at the edges so water cannot creep under it.

   

2. 2. Wet the Christmas Card Sky With a Flat Wash Brush

   Load a big brush with clean water and wet the whole sky above the pencil line. A soft mop brush covers the open space fast.

   Tip: The paper should look shiny, not puddled. Blot any pools with a paper towel.

   

3. 3. Drop Payne's Gray Into the Wet Sky for Soft Winter Clouds

   Mix Payne's gray with a touch of burnt sienna and blue so it is not too cold. Touch the brush to the damp sky and swish a little colour in here and there.

   Tip: Stop sooner than you think. Colour keeps moving for a minute after you lift the brush.

   

4. 4. Paint a Misty Pine Tree Into the Damp Watercolor Sky

   Mix sap green with Payne's gray and burnt sienna to get a dull, gray green. Distant trees look faded through winter haze, so keep them pale.

   Tip: If the tree spreads into a blob, the paper was too wet. Wait a little longer.

   

5. 5. Add More Pale Pine Trees to the Misty Forest

   Paint two or three more pale pines behind and beside the first one. Start each with a vertical line and keep the brush light and quick.

   Tip: Practice a few trees on scrap paper first to find the scribble motion.

   

6. 6. Paint a Crisp Dark Pine Tree on the Dry Watercolor Paper

   Now switch to wet-on-dry. Add more Payne's gray to your green so it is deep and dark.

   Tip: Angle the branch strokes slightly downward. It makes the pine look weighed down with snow.

   

7. 7. Paint the Large Foreground Pine Tree for the Card

   Draw a longer trunk line for the main tree, so you see the whole of it. Build the branches from the top down with the same scribble.

   Tip: Turn the paper as you work so your hand is always comfortable.

   

8. 8. Soften the Pine Tree Base Into a Snowy Hill Shadow

   Rinse your brush and blot it. Touch it to the wet paint at the bottom of the tree and pull it sideways into the hill.

   Tip: Keep the shadows pale. A little goes a long way on white snow.

   

9. 9. Add Dark Low Lights to the Front Pine and Finish the Card

   With a fine round brush and almost pure Payne's gray, add a few dark marks low on the front pine. This extra depth pulls the tree forward.

   Tip: Sign and date the back. Hand-painted cards often get kept for years.