Birthday Blooms No Line WaterColoring

Today's card looks like a floral watercolor painting, but it was made with the Birthday Blooms stamp set and aqua painters! The technique is called no line water-coloring.

Stamp the image using a light ink color such as Sahara Sand, Smoky Slate, Pink Pirouette, Soft Sky, and Powder Pink onto watercolor paper. Then color in the image using aqua painters and ink refill or ink pads.

For this card, I started with a Pool Party watercolor wash in the background to help ground the space. I used Sahara Sand ink to stamp the large floral image from Birthday Blooms onto watercolor paper.

Then I taped around the edges with painters tape to a piece of cardboard (that's the insert from the Paper Pumpkin kit!). This helps keep the paper from warping or curling as it dries. I cut the watercolor paper about an 1" bigger than my intended size in case the tape tore the watercolor paper. After it dries, the watercolor paper can be trimmed to size.

I started with the lightest color of ink and worked up to the darkest color but any order can be used.

Choose where you would like the light to come from. It can be from above, below, left, or right. Once you choose where you would like the light to come from be consistent with shadowing. Sine a desk lamp across your work to help define where the shadows may fall.

Work in small sections at a time. Add more ink to create shadows and then pull the ink using the aqua painter brush across each section to create the look you want.

Allow each section to dry before adding more ink. Add fine detail with a Stampin' Write Marker such as the veins on the leaves.

No line water-coloring works well on larger, not as finely detailed stamped.

No line water-coloring isn't limited to ink and aqua painters. It works with Stampin' Blends too as well as watercolor pencils and blender pens.

I hope you give this technique a try. Which stamp sets would you choose?

Thanks for stopping by!
Beth

Birthday Blooms No Line Water-Coloring Card Supply List
Stamps	#140655 Birthday Blooms (Wood-Mount) #140658 Birthday Blooms (Clear-Mount)
Paper	#140272 Thick Whisper White Cardstock #108641 Wild Wasabi Cardstock #122959 Water Color Paper
Ink	#140931 Basic Black Archival Ink Pad #144083 Berry Burst Ink Pad #126959 Wild Wasabi Ink Pad #131173 Crushed Curry Ink Pad #126982 Pool Party Ink Pad #144089 Berry Burst Ink Refill #109020 Wild Wasabi Ink Refill #131263 Subtles Stampin’ Write Marker Collection (Wild Wasabi) #131262 Regals Stampin’ Write Marker Collection (Crushed Curry)
Embellishments	#144200 Glitter Enamel Dots
Tools	#143263 Big Shot Machine #143704 Dynamic Layered Leaves Textured Impressions Embossing Folders #103954 Aqua Painters Paper Towels Piece of Cardboard larger than the Water Color Paper