Simple Watercolour Christmas Card Ideas – ‘Tis the season, and while not everyone writes Christmas cards, it’s always a special time of year full of wishes and gifts! Even more so when you give something handmade.
This time, I’m going to show you some quick and easy ways to spice up your holiday cards with – you guessed it – watercolor greeting cards from Etchr! Let the fun begin…
Simple Watercolour Christmas Card Ideas
If you’re on a tight schedule, try blocking out some simple paint shapes. For example, a triangle with a star on top would be a Christmas tree, while two light blue circles with an orange triangle stuck on top would be a snowman (add some black dots for those eyes and buttons!).
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Bonus tip: Etchr greeting cards are already scored in the center so they can easily be folded in half with the logo and information printed on the paper on one side.
You can paint on both sides, I recommend painting on the side with the printed information, as this is technically the “front” of the paper. You can paint the entire card, but remember that the back is on the left and the front is on the right.
There’s no need to paint your shapes in a solid color – you can do a little wet-on-wet painting for a nice look. This is easy to do. Wet your form with clean water and apply wet paint. The paint will mix with the wet surface, creating an organic mixture.
Tip: Be sure to work on one shape at a time, letting each one dry before you paint another on top. If you want the shapes to bleed into each other, paint all your shapes at once!
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If you have some time and patience, try the glazing technique, where you overlap two different colors on top of each other, but only after the first layer of paint has dried. Due to the transparent nature of watercolor, the overlapping area will be a different color, which can be very cool.
The colors don’t even have to be different – overlapping the same color diluted more than usual will create an overlapping area that is a more saturated version of that color!
Tip: Test your paints first, as not all colors will mix well with each other. I recommend glazing colors that look similar to each other, such as red and yellow or blue and green.
They say no two snowflakes are the same, so why not make some colors for Christmas? You can paint the shape of your snowflakes directly, but I find that negative painting (like painting the space in and around the snowflakes) makes them more intricate and exciting! However, you will need masking fluid and a synthetic paintbrush for this.
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The great thing about masking fluid is that you get a lot of detail in the area you’re masking (learn more about masking fluid in this blog post). Another good thing is to draw small snowflake shapes in pencil, then paint directly over these lines with masking fluid.
After the masking fluid dries, paint a wash of color – any color – over the entire area. Apply other colors again using the wet-in-wet technique.
I recommend using darker colors to make your snowflakes stand out more. Also, don’t get your paper wet here as it can irritate your masked areas and cause damage to the paper underneath.
Once your paint is completely dry, gently remove the masking residue with your finger or a rubber pick-up remover. Area masks preserve the bottom layer, so it works best. If you still see pencil lines from your drawing, gently erase them.
Simple Watercolour Christmas Cards
How about a winter scene with penguins walking in the snow under a starry sky? A reindeer going through some snowy cabin? The possibilities are endless.
Do you want something a little more desirable without spending too much time? All you need is a wreath. They look complicated but are easy to paint.
Draw a circle (in pencil) on your card using a compass or other circular object to trace. The circle will guide your wreath, so don’t let it get too close to the edge.
Next, decide if you want a ribbon. Sketch its outline, referring to the reference picture of the wreath if you need to. Now you are ready to paint!
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For the leaf area, mix yellow and green and light green (I mixed yellow ocher and sap green for an earthy tone). Next, paint tapered strokes that angle outward and inward from the circle you drew. The circle acts as the center line of your wreath.
Continue drawing leaves around the circle, angling them so they are inside the circle. Change the height, size, and occasional angle to keep things looking like neat chaos. Ordered because the leaves point in a general circular direction, and “messy” because there is still randomness.
When you finish the first light green layer, let it dry, then add a layer of mid-tone green. After this layer dries, add a final layer of dark green, though try not to overdo it. You want your wreath to look thick but leave some “breathing room” in the white.
When done, paint the ribbon (if you added) red. Add shadows to the folds of the ribbon by mixing Payne’s gray into your red for a deep red shade. If you don’t want to use red, gold is a great option for some sparkle!
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Finally, add some details to your wreath – red berries, brown pinecones, white mistletoe berries… it’s up to you. Be as creative as you want. It’s also nice to add a small message to the center of your wreath.
Note: For a video version of how to paint a wreath, check out this live demo recording by Annie Kostecki with Etchr Studio. He breaks it down and makes it easy to follow, especially for visual learners.
If you have more time on your hands, you can get more complicated and design some Christmas characters for your cards.
How about a polar bear opening a big fish gift under a bare (hehe) tree? Or a snowy owl flying home for Christmas? Ink it, add color or paint it in any style you like.
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Whatever style of card you paint, finish it off with a greeting written on the front. I like to use my paintbrush here, but if you don’t have a brush pen or fountain pen it will do just fine too. Or use any pen that gives you the lines you want.
After completing your card cover, address the envelope to the recipient. You can also use a pen paintbrush here as the envelope is thick and absorbent enough to hold a bit of watercolor. We have a great article on watercolor calligraphy if you want to learn more!
You can also decorate it with more watercolor shapes, but it depends on how much time you have.
I hope I have given you many ideas for your holiday greeting cards. Plus, I’m sure your friends and loved ones will enjoy the handmade cards. Regardless, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all of us at Etchr.
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Do you make your own holiday greeting cards? What is your favorite thing this season? Let us know in the comments. Learn more about the creative process and get more tips by subscribing to our email newsletter. We will tell you about all the amazing things that happened in Etchr.
Nicola Tsoi is a graphic designer and illustrator based in Hong Kong. He loves watching birds do funny things, finding stories, and cooking up a storm in his downtime. He keeps a pet sourdough starter named Doughy. Hey guys, this is Sara from @essjay_florals and I’m so excited to share this quick and easy watercolor Christmas card with you all! The fun of this design is that you can easily use other tools and colors to create it.
Remember you can use my affiliate code SARAH10 to get a discount on your Acrylographs or any other Archer & Olive products! For a quick overview of all the steps involved in making this card, watch this video:
First find the middle of your page, draw a line in pencil to write your greeting, I chose to go with “Merry Christmas”. Draw a line above and below the greeting, leave some white space around the text, apply washi tape along these lines.
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Start by painting small branches with some leaves on the top and bottom of your card using blue green and pink watercolors. Add interest by making all different angles and different numbers of leaves. Then using the red paint, paint some small scattered berries, making sure you leave a space at this point. Finally, if you want, sprinkle some red color (do this by tapping your brush