Watercolour greeting cards – with Marabu Aqua Ink Graphix

How it is done:

• Cut the paper to the desired size.
  
  TIP: attach the paper to a smooth surface using crepe tape. This will prevent it from warping excessively when the watery paint is applied. Don’t worry though: the crepe tape can be easily removed once you’re done without causing any damage.
• Before you begin painting the design, prepare all the paints you plan to use on your mixing palette. You’ll need to paint quickly during the subsequent steps so it’s best to be prepared. Mix your chosen paints with plenty of water.
  
  NB:
  Water colours are soluble. This means that even when the paint is dry, it can be ‘reactivated’ with a bit of water. This is true both on the palette and on paper. All of the white elements in the design are not painted – they are just sections of paper left blank.
• FLAMINGO – wet-on-dry
  
  Lightly sketch out the desired motif on paper using a hard pencil.
• Begin with a dark pink and start to paint the head and the neck. As the paper is dry, you should see clean/defined/straight contours and edges.
  
  
• Rinse the brush and gently go over the still wet paint. This creates a gradation from light to dark.
• Leave the paint briefly to dry and complete the picture using a smaller brush: start with lilac and then blue as you add the shadow and details. To do this, carefully apply strokes with sharp contours which you then ‘blur’ using a clean water brush, creating a softer shade.