Last weekend we put up our Christmas tree, and I am officially in the holiday spirit – so what better way to celebrate with a watercolor Christmas holly wreath!
What’s your favorite Christmas tradition? I always like to add one new ornament a year. Maybe it’s from a favorite vacation spot. Or something to symbolize our new hobby/interest. Or maybe it’s just a pretty cat to represent Aslan 🙂
If you’re interested in how to paint wreaths, take my Watercolor Wreaths class in The Watercolor Garden or on Skillshare!
You only need a few colors for this one, so grab your paints and let’s do this.
Supplies:
- Paint: LUKAS Aquarell 1862 Watercolor
- Brush(es): Creative Mark’s Mimik Synthetic, round size 6, Creative Mark’s Polar Flo, round size 2
- Paper: Canson XL Watercolor Paper
- Jars of water
- Paper towel or cotton rag
- Pencil and eraser
- All of my favorite supplies here
This post includes affiliates links. This means that if you purchase the item using my link, I receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. I will only post products that I have personally used and would recommend. The small commission helps run this blog and its activities. Thank you!
Step 1: Paint Prep
For this painting, I’m using four colors:
- PG17, Chromium Oxide Green
- PB29, Ultramarine Blue Deep
- PR255, Cinnabar Red
- PY155, PR176, PBk7 Burnt Green Earth
All of my watercolors are from the LUKAS 1862 Watercolor set that you can find at Jerry’s Artarama! You know I’ve tried lots of different brands, and this is by far the best quality for the best price.
Step 2: Paint Holly
I like to outline either the entire holly leaf or half of it, and then paint the inside. The key to a more interesting holly leaf is to 1) leave just a sliver of white space between the two halves, and 2) vary the value and/or color of the leaf. This will help create dimension in your leaves!
Step 3: Fill in empty spaces
After my feature elements, I always fill in the empty spaces, usually with smaller, filler elements. In this case, I decided to fill it first with smaller holly leaves. Notice how they’re facing different directions, and how it’s not a perfect circle. That’s okay! You can always round it out with other elements, which you’ll see soon.
For smaller elements, switch to a smaller round size 2 brush so you can paint more accurately.
I felt the holly was a bit too pointy, so I introduced some softness into the painting by including rounded leaves. Stay with the same mixture of colors.
Step 4: Berries
I love how much the red berries pop in contrast to the green/blue leaves. Paint them in clusters of three. Paint some that are peeking out from behind a leaf. When layering your berries on top of a leaf layer, make sure the leaf layer is fully dry!
Add a few branches for the berries that are slightly outside of the wreath.
Step 5: Final Details
As you round out your holly wreath shape, add a few more filler elements as you see fit. Remember, you can also layer to make your wreath look fuller.
And that’s it!
Christmas Holly Wreath Video Timelapse
Thanks for following along!
I’d love to see your watercolor apples! Feel free to tag me (@AudreyRaDesign) on Instagram or Facebook and use the hashtag #PaintWithAudrey.
Buy me a coffee if you enjoyed this post!
