It is possible to add a mount to a finished watercolour picture to improve it before you get around to framing it, or you could also use it as a card.
So what will you need for starters? A ruler, scrap paper, a 12mm flat brush, no.
5 brush, some watercolours, compasses, a mat to cut on, a craft knife and some watercolour paper.
You can quite easily make your own mount and then proceed to decorate it with colours that blend in to show your work to advantage.
However, you can also go to an art supplier or handicraft store and buy ready made, cut mounts in all sorts of shapes and sizes.
But wouldn't it be nicer to make your own? So, what I suggest, to make an easy start, is to try with a flower, like a dahlia or a big daisy.
Get your mat, you are going to use for a cutting board, and your knife.
You will need to cut two pieces of watercolour paper, say 4 ins x 6 ins.
Then you will require a circle, so using the compass, draw a circle in the centre of both pieces, identical, about 3 inches in size.
Just be careful not to be too heavy handed, keep it quite light.
Now you can make a smaller ring in the centre of one of your card pieces to make your flower centre.
After this, most likely, you will want to mix a few of your watercolours and using a no.
5 brush, you can then paint over this outline.
Once you have completed this, you can then fill in the central part of this with a paler watercolour wash.
The colours that you use will obviously depend on the type of flower you have chosen.
It is time now to begin colouring the petals of your flower.
So dip your brush into whatever colour paint you need for your petals.
When you paint your petals, all you actually need to do, is to put pressure on the bristles, so they are flat, to achieve petal shaping.
This movement then needs to be used all the way around the outside of the inner ring.
You could then outline the petals with a different tinge of colour.
You have your big circle, plus the circle in the middle, which you filled in with paint.
At this stage the very centre could be made darker by applying some small dots in brown paint, or something similar, so that it will look like seeds.
Also, you could put a few bigger dots on the circle surrounding this.
Personally, I would probably add a thin edging of gold or silver with a gel pen to the petals.
Take your second piece of paper and cut the big circle out of this.
Use the scrap paper to protect it.
Choose a colour that will compliment your flower and paint the remaining card, or mount, with a 12mm brush, but you will need a watery mix.
What you can do then, is once the paint dries, add a border or edge above and below the cut out, according to your taste.
This is just to make it more decorative.
Here you can introduce your own colours and patterning.
This done, you can then mount your flower, by first ensuring that the mounting is dry, then put it straight over your central picture.
Note, this could then be framed as a picture or used as a card.
So what will you need for starters? A ruler, scrap paper, a 12mm flat brush, no.
5 brush, some watercolours, compasses, a mat to cut on, a craft knife and some watercolour paper.
You can quite easily make your own mount and then proceed to decorate it with colours that blend in to show your work to advantage.
However, you can also go to an art supplier or handicraft store and buy ready made, cut mounts in all sorts of shapes and sizes.
But wouldn't it be nicer to make your own? So, what I suggest, to make an easy start, is to try with a flower, like a dahlia or a big daisy.
Get your mat, you are going to use for a cutting board, and your knife.
You will need to cut two pieces of watercolour paper, say 4 ins x 6 ins.
Then you will require a circle, so using the compass, draw a circle in the centre of both pieces, identical, about 3 inches in size.
Just be careful not to be too heavy handed, keep it quite light.
Now you can make a smaller ring in the centre of one of your card pieces to make your flower centre.
After this, most likely, you will want to mix a few of your watercolours and using a no.
5 brush, you can then paint over this outline.
Once you have completed this, you can then fill in the central part of this with a paler watercolour wash.
The colours that you use will obviously depend on the type of flower you have chosen.
It is time now to begin colouring the petals of your flower.
So dip your brush into whatever colour paint you need for your petals.
When you paint your petals, all you actually need to do, is to put pressure on the bristles, so they are flat, to achieve petal shaping.
This movement then needs to be used all the way around the outside of the inner ring.
You could then outline the petals with a different tinge of colour.
You have your big circle, plus the circle in the middle, which you filled in with paint.
At this stage the very centre could be made darker by applying some small dots in brown paint, or something similar, so that it will look like seeds.
Also, you could put a few bigger dots on the circle surrounding this.
Personally, I would probably add a thin edging of gold or silver with a gel pen to the petals.
Take your second piece of paper and cut the big circle out of this.
Use the scrap paper to protect it.
Choose a colour that will compliment your flower and paint the remaining card, or mount, with a 12mm brush, but you will need a watery mix.
What you can do then, is once the paint dries, add a border or edge above and below the cut out, according to your taste.
This is just to make it more decorative.
Here you can introduce your own colours and patterning.
This done, you can then mount your flower, by first ensuring that the mounting is dry, then put it straight over your central picture.
Note, this could then be framed as a picture or used as a card.