A Tree or a Vine

Okay I think I may be able to explain this in a way that you can get a FREE Art Journal lesson here today. If you are a beginner to art journaling this is a great place to start. This is super easy and you can do this, I promise. Just gather a few tools, and start by making a mark on the paper.

You will need watercolor pencils, black permanent marker, pencil, and eraser, aqua painters or paint brush and a little jar of water. Oh and your art journal book, or just some watercolor paper.

Start with using your pencil to draw a tree or vine something similar to what I have here. You can copy if you want, you just can't publish and sale it - okay.

Once you have the tree/vine, be sure to add the "curls" to the branches. Then add a few flowers. I started with the flower middle using a circle, then added the petals. Once you have those penciled in, it is time to color. See that wasn't to hard, now was it?

I colored in my flower centers and then the pedals. How did I color them in, well I used the pencil right on the paper, and then went over it with the aqua brush or use a wet paint brush. Don't make it to set unless you want a really drippy bleedy look. Oh and use your favorite colors.

Then to color in the background I used my aqua painter, or you can use your wet paint brush and pick up the color off of the pencil. Yep you read it right! Do not color on the page like you did for the flowers, use the ink off the pencil by putting the aqua painter or wet brush right on the sharp end of the pencil and then start closest to the center of the vine or tree trunk and color your darkest shade out to the lightest shade moving away from the center of the branch. You will need to add color closes to the branch or center as you go. Be careful to pick colors that will blend together nicely and not turn to mud. You can try mixing colors on a scrap paper before putting on your art work. This way you will know what color works with what color. Once all the back ground is colored in as you like it. Let the wetness dry before moving on to the markers.

Go over your pencil lines using a black marker. You can use different sizes of markers (if you have them) to make the job a little easier. I used a fine tip for the flowers and then a wider tip for the tree branches and curls. You will cover up some of the color using a wider line marker, but the contrast of the thick and thin is nice.

If you have any questions, just leave a comment and I will get back to you. I would love to see you work too, so share in the comments if you take on this little art project.