For this level 3 class, I worked on the lesson Botanical Illustration Inspired Watercolor taught by the incredibly talented Jaycee Gaspar.
I have to admit—watercoloring is not really my strongest skill, so this class felt quite advanced for me. However, Jaycee did such an amazing job explaining the techniques and breaking down the process that it made it much easier to follow along and experiment.
For my project, I used the Golden Days Outline Flower & Leaves Stamp Set. I stamped the images using Morning Frost Fresh Dye Ink, which is a very pale ink. This allowed me to try the no-line watercoloring technique, where the stamped lines disappear into the painting.
For inspiration, I went back to a photo I took years ago of a flower from my mom’s garden. I really wanted to capture the soft look of that beautiful white bloom. Now, I know my coloring isn’t nearly as realistic as Jaycee’s botanical illustrations—but I’m still learning and practicing my watercolor skills!
White flowers can actually be quite challenging to paint. I started with the wet-on-wet technique, adding soft colors to all the petals. I placed hints of pink toward the bottom petals and added yellowish and beige tones near the center of the flower. Once the first layer dried, I moved on to the glazing technique (wet-on-dry) to add additional layers of color, just like Jaycee demonstrated in the lessons. I also lifted some color where needed to create highlights and tried mixing colors to better recreate the subtle variations found in the petals.
I followed a similar process for the leaves, creating two different color groups—one leaning more toward olive tones and the other a richer green. To finish the flower, I added some details using colored pencils to mimic the delicate veins on the petals and leaves.
Since the flower ended up looking quite soft and pale, I decided to create contrast by adding a darker background. Using dark grey watercolor, I painted a loose wash around the flower and leaves, inspired by one of Jaycee’s lessons featuring a white flower.
To assemble the card, I trimmed the painted panel down and mounted it onto a burgundy cardstock panel, leaving about an inch of the burgundy visible. I then layered this onto a foiled background panel that I had created earlier. Finally, I heat embossed a “Congrats” sentiment in gold on the inch visible burgundy cardstock below the flower to complete the design.
This project definitely pushed me outside of my comfort zone, but I really enjoyed learning more about botanical watercolor techniques and experimenting with color layering. I’m still practicing, but it’s exciting to see my watercoloring skills slowly improving.
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