From Cats to Whales: Simple and Sweet Watercolor Valentine’s Day Cards

1. Intro: Hello. My name is Natalie, and welcome to this watercolor sketching class dedicated to the theme of Valentine's Day. In this lesson, we will embrace a spirit of love and affection by creating charming animal themed Valentine skirts. These simple yet delightful watercolor sketches are perfect for artists of all levels. Whether you are just starting out or looking to refine your skills, by the end of this class, you will have unique handmade cards. That are ready to share with your loved ones. Let's get started on this creative journey and make card that wants the hot. 2. Materials: I want to show you the materials we will use for today's lesson. We need watercolor paints and sick watercolor paper. You will also need tip and a board to fix the paper. If you're drawing in a sketchbook, you don't need the board. You will need two brushes, one bigger, and one smaller. I have a big soft squobush and a smaller synthetic one. You will also need it a eraser and a pencil. A liner is also helpful, and the best size is 0.3 millimeters. Don't forget some tissues and a cup of water. If you want, you can use a hair dryer to dry the paper faster. So let's start. 3. Heart Cats: For the cat with cats, let's first make a simple sketch. Draw a big cut a little above the middle of the paper. This is where the cats will sit. Once smaller, the ladder. Let's draw the head of the first cat then the body ears and til the second cat will be a bit bigger. Its ears and tail can look slightly different. We'll make the tail wider right away with watercolor. Following the hot slide, the hot itself can be drawn lightly. S we'll paint hots directly with watercolor. The pencil sketch is ready, and now we can start painting with watercolor. Let's chew the colors. I'll use pink and purple and maybe add a little light shade. I'll raise the pencil lines a bit to see better where the hots will go. You can use a sin brush to draw the hots don't forget to keep a tissue for blotting and start to draw the hats. And now it's purple ton. If the hots are still wet, you can mix purple colour into them just like this. Now let's draw purple hats. Draw hots in different sizes. So bigger, some smaller. It's up to you. Draw this hot of hot the way you want. So on one side, I want to add more purple hots. Also, you can add a few just outlined hots. Do the same with pink color. Now let's move on to the cats. They can also be painted into colours. I'll make the girl cat more pink. Don't forget to add smooth traditions. But. The boy cat will be larger. With such a long tail. Also, you can add some splashes around the hot instead of more hots. I advise you to use a bead brush for this. Also, you can make small dots. If the splashes are too big, blood them with a tissue. Add more details. Now, let's dry the paper. Now it's time to use a liner for the final touches. Draw a few hots of different sizes around the hot. Leave some of the hots empty inside. If you want outline some big hots, to make their shape neater or highlight a few randomly. And finally, outline the cats, add their contours, whiskers, and the details That's all. Now our romantic cats are ready. I hope you like the idea. You can write a message or sign the cards in the center or at the bottom, and don't forget to enjoy the result. Thank you for your attention. 4. Lovebirds: Now let's draw a very simple yet impressive cut, and we won't even need a pencil sketch. All we need to do is to paint two circles. The first one, let's make it a bit darker at the bottom. It will be a broad. So let's add a small tail. The second circle will be purple. I use violet nacridon. Let's make it slightly larger. The tail of this bird can also be a bit bigger and in the same colors. I suggest drawing three hots between them. That's it for the watercolor pots. Let's try it. H Now it's time to use a liner to add details. The most important art is the wings. You can make them slightly different. For example, one wing can be a bit denser. Let's add tails. It beaks and ice. So one of the bird, you can draw an interesting little crust. To complete the composition, you can add a few extra hots here. Leave some space at the bottom of the cut for a message or wish. If you like, you can make the birds larger and shift them slightly downwards. I leave this cut with a touch of mystery and understatement. This is a quick and simple drawing idea that even a child can manage. So go ahead and paint and feel free to customize the cut as you like. That's all for me. Thank you for your attention. 5. Whale of Hearts: Now let's draw a very interesting wheel lined with hot shaped balloons. You can choose any shape for the wheel. Draw its body until erase any unnecessary lines right away. Let's make it smile a bit larger. The wheel will be tied at this point to the strings holding the balloons. We draw the hot shaped balloons directly with watercolor, and then highlight them with liner. So let's get started. And the thrust we draw the hots. One heart can overlap another. There will be the biggest hat. You can blend the colors into each other to create smooth traditions. Is the colors dirty like? I'll move the bottom of this hut lightly to the side so that it doesn't intersect with the other one. It looks better this way. Let the colors flow into each other. So in a beautiful pattern. Now, let's move on to the wheel. The top part will be a purple pink shade. For the lower part, you can add more saturated blue tone. Make the bottom area denser and darker. Add a in. Don't forget the tail. At the place of the smile, you need to remove extra paint. Use clean water if it's necessary. And now the water coal pod is done. Let's dry it. If there is excess moisture in any area, carefully remove it with your brush. Now let's move to the details. We need to connect all the hots to one point. I suggest slightly shifting this point to account for the direction of the hots. Draw the strings, so in how they converge. Draw the outlines so the balloons. The last hug. Don't forget to draw the strings around the wheel. You can show one or both ends of the strings to make them look more natural. Outline the fin and trace the whale scanter add details to the tail. And draw the whale smile, finish the. I think it will look best somewhere around here. And that's it. We've created another quick and simple cut. Actually, you can draw any animal instead of a whale. It's up to you. But this idea came to my mind. I hope you liked it, too. 6. Ladybug Love: Now let's draw a ladybug together. But instead of dots on its back and wings, we let hot. Let's place it somewhere here. We'll start with the back. Let's outline the wings like this. Adds relax on one side. You can also draw a branch or a leaf for the ladybug to sit on, but that's optional. It's antenia slightly curved. We'll add those two. And let's begin with watercolor. First, carefully erase any extra lines. And now using beautiful watercolor lens, we'll pin the back. Make it soft and smooth with night conditions. You can add a darker sheet to the lower pot. For the head, don't make it too dark. Mix few of the colours we've already used. The top of the head can be lighter and the bottom be darker. Also add this color at the back. Use the same colors to draw its legs. If you've decided to draw a branch or weave, let's highlight it with watercolor to the colors that you like. Make the edge of the leaf soft and slightly blurry, just to hint at its shape without too many details. The watercolor part is done. Let's try it and move on to the liner and details. I noticed that Antony turned out too long. We can make them shorter and I'll start with them. Let's draw dy boogey on one side. And now it's time to walk on the wings. Use the color to outline certain details. Like the division between the wings. By the way, this is funny, a small nose appeared here. I leave it as is. And let's add the small details. Legs. And its main distinguishing feature pots on the wings. Draw up light hot on the back and make the other smaller. Okay. On the other side, the hat can be stretched out or face a different direction. Here is our fun little story with a lady bug. I hope you like the idea. You can draw two lady bags or show them just from the back. There are so many options. Draw however you like, and enjoy the process. 7. Conclusion: Congratulations on completing this Valentine's Day watercolor sketching class. You have transformed your creativity into heartfelt animal simed cards that capture the essence of love and whimsy. I hope this lesson has inspired you to continue explore watercolor techniques and creating personal gifts for your loved ones. Don't forget to share your project in the gallery. I can't wait to see your creations. Keep painting and see you in the next class.