Growing in Grace: Watercolor Technique with CT Member Cristin Howell

Hi everyone! I wanted to jump in & show you a new printable set that was just released this week to the Print & Pray Shop! Where I live, beautiful spring flowers are popping up all over. The trees are blooming, the birds are chirping – it’s a time for new growth.

The new set in the Print & Pray Shop is called Raining Blessings, by artist Brandi Kincaid. What a fun set that coincides with not only the spring growth outside, but also our spiritual growth and what is happening in our faith. I’m reminded of this verse in 2 Peter 3:18:

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”

Peter was reminding his beloved readers to be careful to not follow false teachings, but to grow in their Christian faith – growing in Christ’s grace. Sticking to the real teachings of Christ, & becoming steadfast in their faith!

I wanted to illustrate this verse with the printable set, but first I wanted to create a background “blooming” with color, as if the girl with the flowers is standing in a field of flowers. To do this, I used a watercolor technique to create blooms that float across the page. I’ll show you how I did it!

First, you’ll want to completely saturate your page with water, so it is wet, but there are no puddles. You might need to do a few passes with your brush to make sure the paper stays wet. We need that wet surface so the color floats on the page. It’s also a good idea to protect the pages beneath the page with a plastic mat.

I added a bit of yellow color to the wash because I wanted the main color of my page to be yellow.

The next steps are easy! Using a brush, dot water color onto the background, touching the tip of your brush to the page. You don’t need to blend it, as the color should float and spread out as you touch the wet paper. If your paper is too dry, the color will not move and “bloom” across the page.

Keep going until you have covered your background as you desire.

While we wait for the watercolor to dry, those wonderful printed strips that come in the kit can be punched out for a fun page tab!

Once the background is dry, all the fun elements can be added to the page. I wrote a little prayer in the side margin. I also popped in a few scalloped digital elements from Mandy Ford’s set, Things Unseen.

-Cristin

Print Pray Paste | Raining Blessings – Illustrated Faith Print Pray Paste | Things Unseen – Illustrated Faith Illustrated Faith – Shanna’s Favorites – Watercolor Set Illustrated Faith – Precision Pens, Set of 2 Illustrated Faith – Genesis Kit Illustrated Faith – Books of the Bible Tabs, Colorful Illustrated Faith – Tape Runner Illustrated Faith – Be Bold – Bible Mat Illustrated Faith – Date-It Stamp

InLinkz.com

water brush | arrow paper clip | white gel pen