Who wouldn’t love to receive one of these delicately painted but “oh so easy!” little cards? I know I was thrilled when I received a similar one from an online supporter who gave me permission to adapt her design into the cards I’m showing you now.

For these paintings the requirements are absolutely minimal. Any paper will do – even a piece of roughly torn sketch paper will give a unique effect to your card as there are hardly any brushstrokes involved! Although a sketch is available for you to download for free here I think it is a good practice to try to draw this yourself as it is very simple and forgiving.

Choosing your colors

You don’t need a large range of colors to create a beautiful, stylish card. In fact, you are best keeping the number of colors to three or maybe four. They will naturally and gently blend on the paper whilst drying, giving many in-between shades.

No preliminary mixing needed either, as very little paint is used.

Watch the video on YouTube here:

How to make Floral Cards in under ten minutes

Whoever invented the expression “less is more” was on to something in my book! Sometimes you just want to do the minimum amount of work – perhaps you have just wrapped a last-minute gift for someone and haven’t got a card or a tag. Perhaps you just want to send someone a note but want to go a bit further than just a piece of paper to write it on and the stores are closed. Perhaps you are trying to cut down on the amount of things you purchase and so have decided to make as many of your cards and gifts as possible yourself.

Whatever your reason, you’ll find this little card will fill the bill.

All the materials I used for this painting of the Floral Cards to Make in Under Ten Minutes video are listed in the description below the video on YouTube, and there are full instructions in real time on the video. There are also subtitles in several languages as well as a transcript of the script of the video. Message me if you can’t find something you are looking for.

If you want to download the free sketch for this painting Floral Cards to Make in Under Ten Minutes in Primary Colors you can find it here.

I often recommend Jacksons Art for supplies. They are in the UK but their prices are so good it’s worth paying their nominal shipping fee. They also have other interesting features, such as expert-written guides to materials and techniques, an annual competition with a valuable prize, free shipping in the UK for over £75 orders, and very reasonable rates for international orders. Plus they have great discounts. Click on the image below to find out more.

Colors for Floral Cards to Make in Under Ten Minutes

Cobalt Blue https://tinyurl.com/hrbmjtt8

Alizarin Crimson https://tinyurl.com/2mfwv76u

Quinacridone gold https://tinyurl.com/2b53nta5

Permanent Rose https://tinyurl.com/bnkz7xmk

Winsor Violet https://tinyurl.com/d28dpu5h

Other materials and equipment from Amazon

I also used a Staedtler pigment liner size 0.05. The link below takes you to sets of 6 pens so the price is not unreasonable. My paper was an unknown sheet from my stash, but I usually recommend Clairefontaine Etival from Canson, 100% cellulose cold press 140lb. I buy it in packs of 50 sheets and that means I can forget all about running out of paper for a good while. I also recommend Bockingford and Strathmore cellulose papers as alternatives, both very good value and all these are Amazon links. You could also use handmade paper or Khadi paper, which would give a more unique result.

I also used my set of gold and silver paint by Kuretaki.

Brushes

My brush was a Drawell size 14 Golden Round – a very good synthetic brush from Japan. You can order them here: http://www.drawell.co.jp/english/ by contacting them direct. The prices are very reasonable and they ship worldwide at minimal cost.

I also often use a brush from ZenArt which you can click below to order. They are an ideal starter set for anyone just building up a collection of good watercolor brushes.