Welcome to my Art Activity series where I brief fun creative projects inspired by what’s on my desk or in my sketchbook. I hope this series will inspire you to spend a spare afternoon working on a little project to relax, or pin it to your rainy day activity Pinterest board to do with your friends and family!
In the studio this month, I’ve been preparing for my upcoming Botanical Numbers and Letters art workshops and I’ve been thinking about different ways to apply the outcome. Numbers and letters make a great design for greeting cards for all sorts of occasions, such as:
Birthdays (their age)
New home (the house number)
Anniversary (the year)
Weddings (initials of the happy couple)
New baby (initial of their name)
New job/promotion (decoration for their workspace)
For this task you will need: paper/sketchbook, pencil and rubber, your art materials of choice and blank greeting cards and envelopes (like these!)
Don’t forget to tag me in your work-in-progress shots and final piece over on instagram at @AmyHarwoodIllustration and #AmyHarwoodWorkshops! I’d love to see what you create!
A cute idea for a first birthday!
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In your sketchbook or on a spare piece of paper, jot down your ideas for the illustrations you’d like to decorate your letter or number with. Does the recipient have a favourite flower perhaps, or would a collection of animals best suit them? The world is your oyster when it comes to designing your own card; you could make it as simple or as personalised as you want.
Some ideas to start with could be seasonal flowers, leaves, objects beginning with that letter or lots of little shapes and textures.
Now sketch your final idea as a practise, it can be super rough and small (which is called a thumbnail) and you could test different colour options too if you’re using paints, colouring pencils etc
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Once you’ve had a sketch and a practise, use your pencil to very lightly draw the outline of your number or letter.
You could also draw outlines for the illustrations to go on top for more specific designs, or leave it as just the template if you want to go for a more intuitive and expressive approach (this is what I do to achieve a more spontaneous and textured appearance with my watercolours - but it’s totally up to personal preference! Try both and see what you enjoy best).
If you’d like to add hand-lettering on the design too I’d suggest to do that next, just in case any smudges or typos occur (it’s such a shame to finish an illustration then make an error with lettering afterwards!)
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Now it’s time to colour or shade in your design! Be as thoughtful and precise, or easy-going and spontaneous as you like. We all have our own preferences when it comes to creating artwork, and we won’t know what we enjoy (or dislike!) until we keep practising.
Tip: Check out my downloadable Art Club sessions on my shop or the tutorials on my blog to learn more about various painting and drawing techniques.
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If you’ve painted your card, leave to dry and then place a bunch of heavy books on top to flatten the card. Sometimes when we use watercolours the paper can buckle if the surface doesn’t absorb well enough.
An alternative idea is to fill a piece of paper with a design or textures and then cut out the letter or number with scissors to stick on top of the card!
Don’t forget to add a little logo or signature on the back of the card, and why not add some fun flourishes to the envelope?
