HOW TO CREATE A LOVE PAINTING USING A WATERCOLOR MASKING TECHNIQUE

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Learn how to create a love painting using a watercolor masking technique this Valentine’s Day. It’s the perfect gift to give to the person you love.

Valentine’s Day will be here before we know it, so today I wanted to share a simple love painting tutorial. This year instead of buying a gift for the person you love I wanted to show you how to make one that comes from your heart. Let them know exactly how you feel with this simple tutorial that you can easily make at home.

Here’s how I did it…

HOW TO CREATE A LOVE PAINTING USING A WATERCOLOR MASKING TECHNIQUE

STEP 1- GATHER NECESSARY SUPPLIES

I used…

Aqvarelle Arches Watercolor Block Cold Pressed Paper 12 1/8” x 16 1/8”
Pencil
Eraser
Ruler- I like to use the stainless steel ruler from ASELART.COM
Scissors
Duck Tape
Foam Board about 16”x 24”
Stapler
Staples
Artist Tape
Paintbrush- I used Silver Black Velvet Oval Brush in size 3/4”
Cup
Watercolor Palette
Watercolor Paint Tubes- For this painting I used Van Gogh in the colors Phthalo Blue, Quinacridone Rose, and Permanent Red Deep.

STEP 2- CUT PAPER TO 8”x 10”

For this project I used Aqvarelle Arches Watercolor Block Cold Pressed Paper in size 12 1/8” x 16 1/8”. To start my project I carefully tear off a single sheet of paper from the block.

Then I measure my paper using a stainless steel ruler and cut it to be 8”x 10”. To get the exact dimensions I first turn my paper horizontal. Next with my ruler I line up the zero to the bottom left edge of my paper, making sure that my ruler is level to the bottom of my paper, before I make a mark at 10” with a pencil. Then I go back and repeat these last two steps for the top of my paper. After that I line up my ruler to the two marks I had made and run my pencil straight down the edge of my ruler creating a line. Then using the line as a guide I cut along it with scissors.

At this point my paper is 10 inches in width. To get the height that I want I first turn my paper vertical. Then I measure my paper and make a mark at 8″ at the top and bottom of my paper. Next I line up my ruler to the two marks I had made and draw a line straight down my paper. Then the last step is to cut along the line with scissors. Now my paper is 8″x 10″.

STEP 3- PUT PAPER ON FOAM BOARD

To prepare my paper for watercolor I start by first centering my paper on the foam board. Then with Duck Tape I tape about ½ an inch from the edge of my paper to the foam board.

Once my paper is securely taped down I then staple my paper along the taped edge.

By taking the time to do this step I minimize how much my paper gets wrinkled when I paint with watercolors.

STEP 4- PREPARE PAPER FOR WATERCOLOR MASKING TECHNIQUE

Now I am ready to prepare my paper for the watercolor masking technique. I start by first writing in capital letters the word love in the middle of my paper with a pencil. For this step remember to write lightly so when the paint is dry you can easily go back and erase the word.

Next using the word that I wrote on my paper as a guide I cover it up with Artist Tape. Starting with the letter L, I cut off a piece of tape from the roll turning it vertical as I lay it over the top half of the letter. Then with my finger I gently smooth the tape down onto my paper. After that I cut off another piece of tape from the roll, this time leaving it horizontal as I lay it over the bottom part of the letter L. Again I use my finger to gently smooth the tape down onto my paper.

Once I have covered up the letter L with tape I then go back and use these same steps to cover up the O, E, and V in that consecutive order. After I have made the letter V out of tape I then gently use my fingernail to lift up the bottom part of the V. Next with scissors I cut off the bottom tip of the V, going from a pointed tip to a straight edge. The last step is to smooth the tape back down onto my paper with my finger.

STEP 5- WET YOUR PAPER AND PAINT AROUND THE WORD LOVE

For this painting I am doing a wet on wet technique because I like how the paint looks soft around the edges and the colors blend together.

This technique is a two step process. The first step is to get your paper damp with water. To accomplish this I first dip my paintbrush into a cup filled with water. Then I gently brush it against the rim of the cup before I move my paintbrush from the cup to my paper to prevent water from dripping. The final step is to brush the water onto my paper until the paintbrush is dry. I continue these three steps until my whole paper is damp with water.

The second step to the wet on wet technique is to add paint to your wet paper.

I start by first dipping my paintbrush back into the cup filled with water. Then I dip it into the color Permanent Red Deep in my watercolor palette, swirling it gently around to get the paint wet and also to coat my paintbrush generously with paint. (Please note if your paint in the watercolor palette is dry you may need to go back and repeat the last two steps a second time to get it nice and wet).

Once I have enough paint on my paintbrush I then brush the paint onto my paper starting at the top left corner going down in a diagonal line.

After that I then change colors. To do this I start by dipping my paintbrush into the cup filled with water, swirling it around gently to make sure I get any left over paint off my brush. (Remember to always do this before changing colors or else you run the risk of mixing colors in your watercolor palette).

Once my paintbrush is clean I then dip it into the color Phthalo Blue in my watercolor palette. Then I brush it onto my paper right beside the red paint.

After that I follow the same steps to clean my brush before I dip it into the color Quinacridone Rose in my watercolor palette. This time instead of brushing it right beside the color, I lay it down on top of Phthalo Blue mixing the two colors together making purple.

Then after I clean my paintbrush I then lay Permanent Red Deep right beside the purple. After taking a step back and looking at my paper I decided to break up the large amount of red paint by brushing on Phthalo Blue on the left side. With the left over blue paint on my paintbrush I add it to the far left side of my paper right beside the red paint.

After cleaning my paintbrush I then go back and add another layer of paint to the first two colors I had laid down, this time dragging the paint all the way down to the bottom of my paper.

After cleaning my paintbrush I then brush on a couple of layers of Permanent Red Deep covering up the white on the right side of my paper. I even mix it with the right side of the blue paint creating a layer of purple between the blue and red paint.

Then after cleaning my paintbrush I then skip over to the left corner of my paper that is still white and paint on a couple of layers of Phthalo Blue.

After taking another look at my paper I decide to add Quinacridone Rose to the bottom left corner of my paper allowing it to mix with the blue paint to make purple. Then after cleaning my paintbrush I then add Phthalo Blue to the top right corner of my paper.

Then right on top of the blue paint I add Quinacridone Rose to make it purple. The last step after cleaning my paintbrush is add another layer of Permanent Red Deep on the right side of my paper to define the red paint and to eliminate the white of the paper.

STEP 6- TAKE OFF THE TAPE AND REMOVE PAINTING FROM FOAM BOARD

I wait until one whole day has passed to make sure my painting is dry before removing the tape and taking my paper off the foam board. When I am sure my paper is dry I start by removing the Artist Tape from my paper in the reverse order from when I put it down on my paper.

After the tape has been removed I then erase the word love that I had written down as a guide for the tape.

Then I take steps to remove my painting from the foam board. The first step is to remove the staples that is holding my paper down on the foam board. I do this by using a flat screwdriver to lift the staples. Once all the staples have been removed I then gently remove the Duck Tape from the edge of the watercolor paper.

STEP 7- ENJOY

So that’s how I created a love painting using a watercolor masking technique. Now you can create your own love painting that you can give to the one you love. If you’re looking for a love painting using a watercolor masking technique I hope this tutorial was helpful!

If you would like to return to this post to follow along later, be sure to pin the image below so you can find it easily: