Watercolor Poppy Cutouts To Make NOW!
Please take my word for it, these watercolor poppy cutouts are one of the best things I’ve made in a long time, as there is just something about them that looks AMAZING! And that is even though my illustrations and the paint job were a bit lacking…….So get out the biggest watercolor paper you can find and start making some watercolor poppy cutouts, you won’t regret it, and in fact you’ll be jumping for joy and planning all the ways you can use these beauties! I have this idea of a diorama of sorts with watercolor poppies, so with that in mind I drew my poppies with straight stems so that I can tape a skewer to the back (which I did in this photo) but you can also draw them as shown inside this post, and then figure out how to use them afterwards! I’d say just hanging them anywhere could look amazing, or use them as a gift topper, or make a bouquet, of any number of other ideas I have yet to think of! The Jewish holiday of Shavuot is coming up this Thursday night, and since it is the holiday of greenery and flowers to remember the lush Mt. Sinai, where the Torah was given, these poppies are just perfect! (Never mind the fact that the poppies usually bloom for Passover in Israel, we really don’t need to be so literal, we just need to be joyful!) Okay, lets get to it!
You’ll Need:
- watercolor paper, mine is 35cm x 50cm, and I used the paper horizontally, so tallest poppy is no more than 35cm (hmm, can’t wait to make some that are 50cm tall!)
- a black medium marker, possibly waterproof, which mine was not…..if you like the runny black look, (which I do, here!) so go with a regular marker
- watercolor paint, simple is fine
- scissors
- wooden skewers
- masking tape
How To:
- Draw your poppies, and i recommend practicing the shapes on a piece of scrap paper in a small version before going big. ( I have been doing this in my sketchbook, here) I drew them with the black marker from the get go, but if you are a perfectionist, so draw them lightly in pencil and then go over them in marker. Draw straight stems if you want to stand them up somehow, say with straight skewers, but if you have wire, so a curved stem would work just fine.
- Paint the poppies with watercolors, (see below) leaving some white area and mopping up extra water by sponging with a paper towel to remove color and get great texture.
- What about the leaves? Hmmm, not happy with mine so I cut them off, but I will be making some leaves separately to use with the poppies, just haven’t gotten there yet.
- Once dry, cut out the poppies and marvel at how amazing they now look!
- If you want to use them say in a vase, or standing up in some way, tape skewers, or portions of skewers to the back with masking tape.
- Voila, just amazing!
That footprint on the painting is proof that husband and son walking into my studio and stepped on my painting!
Ah yes, and you could simply put these beauties in a frame (put a little masking tape on the back of each so you can re-use them when inspiration strikes,)arranged like this and call it a day, maybe I’ll have to do that too! On the other hand, giving them even more dimension by taping skewers to the backs is even more lovely!
