Learn how to make lovely watercolor art prints using only paper, markers, a plastic bag, and water!
I absolutely love inspirational quotes so I chose some of my favorites for this project. I used Microsoft Word to type quotes in some really cool fonts, enlarged the size of the type so each quote filled most of the page, leaving a decent-sized margin of 1-inch all around, centered the quotes, printed them, and then added a pretty watercolor background using markers and water. This project is appropriate for all ages. You don’t need a color printer for this project since you will print the quote in black ink on plain white matte paper. The watercolors will be added after.
This watercolor technique is really easy. You start with a printed quote, color with markers on a gallon zip lock bag, then spray the bag with water. This causes the marker color to run and blend. You immediately flip the bag over onto your printed quote. The result is a beautiful watercolor background that is suitable for display.
I experimented with colors, and discovered that lighter colors like yellow, orange, pink, teal, and light blue work best. The lighter colors allow the printed words to show through better once the watercolor is added. If you choose darker colors like purple or navy, make sure you color very sparingly on the plastic bag. Too much saturation of darker colors will prevent the quote from standing out. Consider the colors in the room where you plan to display the framed quotes, and make sure your watercolors are complementary to the decor.
Printable Inspirational Quotes
Here are 10 of my favorites quotes with the fonts, and type size that I used. Use any of these or use your own favorite quotes. Use whatever software you have like Microsoft Word or any other word processing software on a PC, or Pages on a Mac. Make sure to center the entire quote on the page both horizontally and vertically.
- Kindness IS THE NEW Cool. Fonts Lucida Handwriting for Kindness and Cool in font size 92, Arial for IS THE NEW in size 72. All bold.
- Always stay humble and kind. Fonts Segoe Script in bold for Always, humble, kind in font size 80, Segoe Script for stay, and in size 48 (AND in all caps).
- Grow through what you go through. Font Kristen ITC in size 86. All bold.
- Elegance is the only beauty that never fades. Font Corbel in size 86. All bold.
- Whatever makes you weird is probably your greatest asset. Font Monotype Corsiva in size 80. All bold.
- Believe you can and you’re halfway there! Font Arial Rounded MT Bold in size 80.
- If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you. Font Script MT Bold in size 90.
- Not All Girls are Princesses. Some are Superheros. Font Comic Sans MS in size 78. All bold.
- You will NEVER REGRET doing the RIGHT THING. Font Segoe Script in size 78 bold for you will and doing the. Font Segoe Script in all caps size 60 for NEVER REGRET and RIGHT THING.
- Be somebody who makes everybody feel like a somebody. Font Corbel in size 78 for all words except everybody. For the word everybody use font Lucida Handwriting in size 84. All bold.
Supplies Needed
- Matte presentation paper – Regular printer paper will buckle when you add the watercolors, and watercolor paper is too thick for most printers. Therefore, I used double-sided matte presentation paper (47 lb.). It’s thick enough to not buckle when you add the watercolor, but still thin enough to feed through any printer. Allow to dry, and if it does buckle some, just leave the page under something flat like a heavy book for a few hours, and it will end up flat enough to frame.
- Printer. Any laser or inkjet printer will work.
- Markers. I used Crayola Markers, but any brand of markers will work except permanent/waterproof markers like Sharpie. Broad tip will work best, but you can always turn fine tip markers on the side to get broader strokes. That’s what I did.
- Plastic zip-lock type freezer/storage bag, 1 gallon size.
- Spray bottle with water. Use only the mist setting.
- Paper towel. To blot any excess water.
Directions
Step 1
Print your chosen quote on the presentation paper.
Step 2
Lay the gallon zip lock bag over the printed quote. If your zip lock bag has an opaque writing area, make sure that’s facing down. Use the clear side for scribbling with the markers.
Step 3
Scribble on the bag with markers over the area of the quote, just color side to side with two or three different colors that blend well, like orange over the top words, and yellow over the bottom words, or pink over the top words, lavender over the middle words, and teal over the bottom words. Basically, just make sure some color is covering the words. Stay away from anything too dark like purple or navy, and definitely never brown or black.
Step 4
With your markered-up plastic bag still laying over your page with quote, spritz some water over the marker scribbles on your plastic bag. Just 1 or 2 mists over the area you scribbled with markers is enough. The marker ink will bead up when wet.
Step 5
Pick up the zip lock bag and quickly flip it over, carefully centering the marker scribbles over your quote. Rub your fingers over the bag, blending the colors beneath it.
Step 6
Carefully peel the bag off of your print. Wait a few minutes, then blot any excess water with a paper towel. However, you shouldn’t have much excess if you only used 1 or 2 mists of water.
Step 7
Allow to dry completely. If you paper buckles once dry, place under a book for a few hours to flatten out.
Step 8
Mat and frame your beautiful watercolor print!
Ideas for decorating with watercolor prints
This is a great way to decorate your office or bedroom with some favorite quotes, or anywhere in your home where you or a family member might need that little extra motivation or inspiration.
Can’t decide on your favorite quote to print? No worries! These watercolor prints are so easy to create that you can easily change quotes in and out every few weeks or months re-using the same frame.
It’s even easier with an Easy Change Artwork Frame. I absolutely love those! They are actually perfect for this project because you can make several of these watercolor prints using different quotes, and store the extras in the right side of the frame. They’ll be right there to switch out whenever you are ready to place a different quote in the frame. How awesome would that be? Maybe a different quote each month of the school year to motivate your kids?
You can also use poems to make these watercolor prints, but I’m just more of a quote person. Another idea is to use sheet music of a favorite or special song instead of a quote. Whatever you choose, have fun making these awesome watercolor prints!