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Hey everyone! I am so excited to share this Watercolor Christmas Card tutorial with you today. We are going to paint an easy gingerbread house together. This beginner-friendly watercolor tutorial would be perfect to put on a homemade Christmas card.
Let’s get started!
Full video tutorial at the end of the post!
You may also be interested in, How to Paint a Watercolor Gingerbread Man.
Supplies You’ll Need:
Watercolor Paper
Watercolor Paint
Round Paint Brushes
Pencil
Eraser
Two cups of water
Paper towel
Paint Colors Used:
Burnt Umber
Payne’s Gray
Alzarian Crimson
Sage Green
Cobalt Blue
All of these colors can be found in this perfect beginner set of watercolor paints. This is the exact set I am using in the video above to create this painting. I highly recommend this product to you if you are looking for a beginner set of paints.
How to Draw a Gingerbread House
Grab your pencil and let’s draw a gingerbread house together!
Start with a simple square for the base of the gingerbread house. Then put a triangle on top for the roof, then erase the line between the triangle and the square to make it one shape.
Create curved lines going down either side of the roof. This will give the look of frosting.
Then draw circles down either side of the gingerbread house walls. These circles are going to be our candy decorations.
Next, draw two squares for the windows near the top of the gingerbread house. Then draw four squares inside each of the windows.
Now, let’s create a dutch door. Draw a rectangle at the bottom center of the gingerbread house, then draw one square at the top of the rectangle then one square below it. Add a small circle in the middle of the two squares for the doorknob.
Lastly, connect the door to both walls by drawing a wavy line across. Use the picture below as a guide.
Erase the lines lightly so they won’t show through the watercolor paint.
Step 1:
Our first step is very easy!
Grab your round brush and dip it into a burnt umber paint mixture and fill in the entire center of the gingerbread house, avoiding the windows, door, and frosting lines.
Let this layer completely dry before moving on.
Step 2:
Add a little bit of Payne’s Gray to the burnt umber paint mixture and fill in the center of the windows and the center squares of the door, leaving the rim on the windows and door white.
While the windows and door dry, take the tip of your brush and apply a darker outline of brown paint along with the frosting, circles, door, and windows. This will create a natural shadow.
Wait for this layer to draw before moving to our next step.
Step 3:
For this step, we are going to paint the frosting areas and half of the candy circles.
Apply a clean layer of water over the frosting areas, then tap in a light paint mixture of either Payne’s Gray or Cobalt Blue to the top area of the roof, windows, and door.
While those areas dry, dip your round brush in the Alzarian Crimson paint and paint in every other circle.
Let these sections completely dry before moving on.
Step 4:
This step is going to be quick and easy.
All we are going to do is take out a small round brush and fill in the remaining circles with Sage Green paint.
Let this layer completely dry and then we can move on to our last step!
Step 5:
Last, but not least we are going to create a light background to our painting. This is just going to add a bit of depth to our gingerbread house.
Start, by applying a clean layer of water behind the gingerbread house. Then paint in a light wash of cobalt blue all over the wet surface. Use clean water to blend out any harsh edges you see drying.
Next, dip your brush into that light Payne’s Gray mixture we used earlier and apply it to the bottom area of the gingerbread house. We want this section to look like snow, so leave a decent amount of white page.
Now, using a light wash of Burnt Umber, create a path from the door to the bottom of the page. The path should become wider as it gets closer to the bottom of the page as well as slightly darker.
Let all of these areas dry, and you are done!
Congrats! You’ve finished your very own Gingerbread house Christmas Watercolor Card!
I hope you enjoyed painting this easy Christmas Watercolor Card with me today! If you did enjoy this painting, please consider sharing it on Pinterest!
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