“Unlocking Your Creative Journey: Painting Your Own Unique Card”

How to paint a card in your style?

Sometimes, you receive a card, and it just excites your imagination to the point where you want to have a go at creating your own picture.

This happened one Christmas, receiving a beautiful scenic countryside picture of a train on the viaduct.

At first you may be thinking:

“I can’t draw or paint that.”

“Look at all the detail. It’s too difficult”

“It’s way beyond my abilities.”

“Where do I start”

Well, let me take you inside the mind of a creative who has learned to find her own style and have a go anyway.

Stage 1

Firstly, sketch a pencil drawing using the shapes as a guide.

Break it down into shapes: the three hills, the viaduct, the buildings, the train and the hot air balloon.

Start by filling in basic shapes and values, then clean up your drawing and add details as you go.

Tip: If you focus on intricate details too soon, you might make one part of your drawing too big or too small, and the work will feel out of balance when you’re finished.

Stage 2:

Think of the basic background colour palette and mix your paints ready to use.

For this, I used watercolor paint, which blended nicely with water.

Tip: Paint one section at a time and leave to dry so areas of colour do not mix.

For example, I painted the blue and white sky, then the green hills, the white front hill, the viaduct, the houses, and finally, the greenery in trees and bushes.

If you’re trying to blend two areas together, make sure they’re both nice and wet – add more water to them if needed.

Using a wet brush, touch one side of the area and pull or drag the paint down in slow motions to meet the other area, connecting them.

Stage 3

Once the background is dry and no longer wet to the touch.

Using black fine liner pens, white posca pen, paint and charcoal crayon adding in the details one section at a time.

Tip: Do not focus on the detail. Just add as little or as much as you like simple window shapes. snowfall, don’t try to be too precise. Sometimes a simple blob or a shape is enough.

The eye are drawn in to the picture with simple abstract details.

Use the finer nibs, such as 0.05 & 0.1, for the finer lines if you are trying to create intricate details and delicate designs.

The final picture mounted on black paper along with the card shows how you can use simple steps and shapes to create your own version.

Would you like to ….

Discover your splash of colour

Find a way to move the pencil on the paper

Channel your hands to open your heart

Need something positive and creative

Then art for wellness has something for everyone. Come and see for yourself

Any age, any ability, anywhere.

Come along and join one of our membership plans that offer you resources and tutorials to get started.

Copyright © 2025, Art for Wellness

Debbie Crouch – originally published 2023

Creative art for all ages and abilities. – Let’s share the beauty of creativity