Last December I led a group to San Miguel Allende, and one of the activities was a watercolor corazón workshop. I thought I’d share the experience with all of you! This is a great craft to do with a group of friends, family, or you can make these to give as gifts. They come out so stunning!
My inspiration to teach this class was the fact that San Miguel de Allende is know for sacred hearts. Located in the middle of Mexico, it’s considered the heart of the country, therefore hearts are EVERYWHERE! And they are so supremely gorgeous!
I owe a huge thanks to two companies for sponsoring this class – Marabu Creative for gifting each participant a beautiful set of Aqua Pens; and Royal Brush for gifting a high-end set of watercolor brushes!
Side note: See my post on the tutorial I did on Aqua Pens, and the interview I did with a Royal Brush specialist about caring for your brushes!
Special thanks to Royal Brush for sponsoring this beautiful brush set for our guests!
Supplies to teach a watercolor heart class
8×10 mat frames with backing and plastic sleeve (makes the end result look really nice)
Royal Brush watercolor brush set
Pencil and eraser for sketching
Masking tape
Directions
I found it’s much easier to have a class sample to inspire people. That way they can see a finished piece and stay motivated. What I also did for the class was to have our group visit
First, you want to sketch out your design with a pencil – lightly. Erase any mistakes. Fill in all the areas with your colors and then dip the brush in the water and apply in strokes to “spread the color.”
You can start by outlining the areas to fill and then dipping a liner brush in water and guiding along the inside of the color, that way it won’t spread out beyond the lines (unless you want that effect!).
Even if you draw a straight line, you can keep watering your brush and guiding it along the color and it will spread across the paper.
Once you’re done, let everything dry and then use the liner pen to outline it all in black. It really gives it a nice, finished look.
TIP: If you don’t let your paint dry, it will ruin the black marker and make it run and mess up your hard work. So set aside your piece, and come back in 30 minutes. Maybe go for a walk, do the dishes, craft something else, or watch a TV show, then come back and outline!
I really loved teaching this class because everyone made at least two paintings and they were very happy with them! Some people did a heart and then ventured out with other subjects like margarita glasses and cacti!
Before I leave this post, I want to share some more inspiration from San Miguel de Allende! One can never have too many hearts, correct?
2 Responses
Watercolor class looked like a lot of fun.
Thanks, Christine!