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Chocolate Musings

Set your goals - make the plans - artfully create your life - live it beautifully. Grab the good chocolate and find your muse.

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Home » how to » Page 2

How to Easily Create Faded Drop Shadows With Tombow Markers

July 16, 2020 Leave a Comment

How to create faded drop shadows with Tombow Markers | ChocolateMusings.com #dropshadows #tombowmarkers

Using shadows under lettering or around art creates a 3-D effect that can make your pieces come alive. They stand out against the background and create interest. However, creating shadows is the tricky part. Here’s how to easily create faded drop shadows with Tombow Markers.

How to Easily Create Faded Drop Shadows With Tombow Markers

This tip is one I quite accidentally discovered. I discovered this trick while filming my July Plan With Me Video. I used Sticky Notes to block off areas of the page and watercolor paint around them. Well, let’s say I was a little bit too liberal with the water. And let’s face it, sticky notes don’t block all the water or ink. It’s a fun technique to try, by all means, but it is not one to use if you want solid, straight lines when you peel them off.

After peeling off the sticky notes and revealing a slight mess underneath, I decided to try to make the page look 3-D. Like I punched out pieces of the paper, and there was a shadow cast down below.

  • Near Bullet Journal Failure! Peeling away the (supposed) blocked off areas - what a mess! How do I clean it up?
  • Fixing the issue with faded drop shadows gives the page a cool look and transforms the mistake! | ChocolateMusings.com #dropshadow #bulletjournalfix #mistake

Supplies You’ll Need:

Supplies you need for creating perfectly blended drop shadows with Tombow Markers | ChocolateMusings.com #tutorial #howto #blending
  • Tombow Colorless Blender (which comes with most Tombow Dual Brush Marker Sets)
  • Tombow Gray Marker (or another color for different drop shadow effects)
  • Paper (preferably 32 LB paper or super smooth paper, like marker paper or a Rhodia pad)
  • Optional: Plastic Bag, Ceramic Plate or Palette

Tombow Marker Fun – Combining Colors

Tombow Dual Brush Tip Marker Bouquet | ChocolateMusings.com #tombow #dualbrushmarkers #markers

You’ll know that combining colors is fun if you’ve ever experimented with Tombow Dual Brush Markers. One marker essentially absorbs part of the pigment from another marker if you press the tips together or mop up the color from a palette like a paintbrush.

One nice thing about Tombow markers is that they are self-cleaning. Use the brush tip (or bullet tip for that matter), and the absorbed pigment fades into the marker’s regular color. If using a dark color with a light color, there’s no residual effect except you might be left with a bit of staining on the tip of the light-colored marker.

Colorless Blender Marker – The Key to a Perfectly Blended Shadow

Tombow Colorless Blender - The Key to Making Perfectly Blended Drop Shadows - tips, tricks & how to create perfect shadows using the Tombow Colorless Dual Brush Marker | ChocolateMusings.com #tombow #dualbrushmarker #dropshadow

Up until now, I never used the colorless blender for anything other than attempting to blend two colors together. (Which, by the way, I find only works well on marker paper – not even 32 lb super smooth paper.)

But then a stroke of genius hit me! If I absorb some gray into the colorless blender, the gray will fade automatically to clear. Which is precisely the effect I wanted! The colorless blender is the key to creating a shadow that softly fades away with your Tombow markers! And you can do it without rubbing holes in the paper by blending too. You can even create faded drop shadows without water.

Watch the Video to Create Perfect Fading Shadows with Tombow Markers

Watch the July Plan With Me Video

The inspiration for creating faded drop shadows using Tombow Markers. See the mess I made & how the drop shadows cleaned up a mistake.

Here are some examples of what you can do using this method to create shadows with your Tombows:

  • Shadowed Boxes + Blended Handlettering with Tombow Dual Brush Markers | ChocolateMusings.com #lettering #weeklyspread
  • Boxes for appointments and to-dos, large spaces for writing and notes below - I love the flexibility of bullet journals! | ChocolateMusings.com #bulletjournal #weeklies #weeklies
  • Minimal watercolor Weekly - Bright colors + drop shadows make the colors pop on this page | ChocolateMusings.com #weeklyspread #bulletjournal #bujo
  • Large boxes on this weekly spread take care of your appointments and to-dos. Bright, fun colors keep you interested | ChocolateMusings.com #minimalweekly #weeklyspread #weekly

How You Can Easily Create Shadows Using Tombow Markers (2 Methods)

If you press the tips of the markers together, the colorless blender will absorb some of the pigment from the other pen and will mark with that color until it runs out. I found two easy ways to create this effect.

Method 1:

Create a perfectly blended drop shadow - kiss the colorless blender + gray Tombow Markers together then use the colorless blender - you'll get perfectly shaded drop shadows! Get the full tutorial on ChocolateMusings.com #tutorial #howto #tombow

Kiss the markers together at the tip and slowly rotate the colorless blender, so it is evenly saturated all the way around.
Now line the area with the tip to get the darkest shadow against another object or mark. The pigment will eventually be used up, and you’ll have to ‘refill’ the colorless blender with more gray and complete your shadows.
Don’t start in the same place every time – you’re most saturated pigment will always be at the beginning. So if you need to evenly distribute a shadow effect, start at the top one time, and the bottom another time.

Method 2 (Shown in the Video):

Scribble on a plate with Markers to absorb a different color on the tip of the marker - the color will slowly fade away as you use the marker - Get the full blended drop shadow tutorial on ChocolateMusings.com #dropshadow #tutorial #howto

You could scribble the gray marker (or another color) on a palette or plastic bag or plate (like the ceramic plates from your kitchen). Then roll the tip of the colorless blender around to absorb the pigment.

The example video above uses this method to create shadows with the Tombow colorless blender. Because it the fastest way to cover a larger area. I found pressing the tips together took much longer than scribbling on a plate because of how often I had to refill my shadow color. But if you don’t have a plate or palette, then, by all means, use the first method.

Notes:

By the way, you can do this with any water-based marker. The process is the same!

Question:

What other ways do you use the colorless blender marker from Tombow?
If you want to learn how to handletter using Tombow Markers – check out my workbooks below!

No Matter Which Notebook I use – You’ll Always Find These Supplies Close at Hand

Large Brush Tip Markers

  • Tombow Dual Brush Pens – Full Set | Bright Set | Secondary Set | Pastel Set | Grayscale Set (there are more sets available as well)
  • Karin Mega Box Markers | Karin Mini Box | Karin Metallic Brush Pens
  • Artline Stix
  • Ecoline Brush Pens

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Filed Under: Blog, Dress-Up Your Planner Spreads, Fun with Handlettering, Get Creative, Planner Header Ideas, Tutorials & How To Tagged: Bullet Journal, drop shandows, how to, plan with me, shadows, tombow markers, Tutorial

How to Create Floral Alphabets – 5 Ways

February 13, 2020 Leave a Comment

Five Ideas to Create Floral Alphabets | Chocolatemusings.com #floralalphabets #flowers #letters

If you’re looking for a challenge, try combining the alphebet with different elements. In this case, with florals. Try it, you’ll find that there are always new ways to combine the alphabet with flowers. Here are five different ideas to create your very own version of a Floral Alphabet.

Start Your Inspiration

First off – if you want to learn how to doodle flowers, but you’re not sure where to start – here’s my post highlighting my favorite floral doodling books.

Or you can check out this post on doodling flowers (without drawing!)

Dress up your alphabet with wreaths! Here are 3 ways to draw circular floral wreaths.

Here’s one last inspirational idea for you – check out my Floral Bullet Journal Theme.

Inspiration From the Shop:

  • Floral Wreath Stickers - No Numbers | ChocolateMusings.com #floralwreaths #plannerstickers
    Floral Planner Stickers Without Daily Numbers
    $4.45
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  • floral wreath stickers with numbers | ChocolateMusings.com #plannerstickers #planner #stickers
    Floral Planner Stickers With Daily Numbers
    $4.45
    Add to cart

Now it’s time to get started!

Floral Alphabet Version 1:

Block Letter O Outline with Flowers | ChocolateMusings.com #floral #alphabet #flowers #letters

Choose a block-letter style and fill the inside of the letter with various types (or the same type) of flowers.

You can choose to draw the flowers exclusively inside or have some flowers break out of the lines. I have a hard time staying within the lines.

Ideas for the background:

You can leave it all black and white with a white background, fill the background with a single color or pattern, or add splots of colors loosely to the flowers.

  • Block Letter O Outline with Flowers | ChocolateMusings.com #floral #alphabet #flowers #letters
  • Block Letter D Outline + Filled with Flowers | ChocolateMusings.com #floral #alphabet #flowers #letters
  • Letter S Outline with losely colored flowers - Ideas for Floral Alphabets| ChocolateMusings.com #floral #alphabet #flowers #letters

Flower Alphabet Version 2:

Choose a flower, then use that flower as the main stem or stems of the letter. As you can see, little tweaks here and there add even more variety.

  • Letter F with Flower - Ideas for different alphabets | ChocolateMusings.com #letters #ideas #alphabet #florals
  • Letter F with Flower - Ideas for different alphabets | ChocolateMusings.com #letters #ideas #alphabet #florals
  • Letter F with Flower - Ideas for different alphabets | ChocolateMusings.com #letters #ideas #alphabet #florals

Alphabet Version 3:

Create another shape like a circle or square around the outside of a blocky or bolded letter. Fill the background space with the flowers and then create the letter using negative space (so the area where the letter would appear is blank).

  • Letter R Flower Background - Ideas for floral alphabets | ChocolateMusings.com #floral #alphabet #flowers #letters
  • Letter R Flower Background Plus Flourish - Ideas for floral alphabets | ChocolateMusings.com #floral #alphabet #flowers #letters

Botanical Alphabet Version 4:

Create the letter using only florals to form the shape. Another way to add more variety is to add some color or flourishes!

  • Letter Q Flower Alphabet - Ideas for floral alphabets | ChocolateMusings.com #floral #alphabet #flowers #letters
  • Letter Q Flower Alphabet - Ideas for floral alphabets | ChocolateMusings.com #floral #alphabet #flowers #letters
  • Letter Q Flower Alphabet - Ideas for floral alphabets | ChocolateMusings.com #floral #alphabet #flowers #letters

Floral Alphabet Version 5:

Letter the names of flowers starting with each letter of the alphabet. Technically that makes it a floral alphabet, right? Add a doodle of each flower near it’s lettered name.

Fun with lettering + flower doodles | ChocolateMusings.com

Bonus tip:

If you’re creating a lot of the same type of Add extra detail to the leaves and petals for a few particular flowers to bring them out from the crowd.

  • Painting Serif Letter A - Ideas for creating different floral alphabets | ChocolateMusings.com #lettera #watercolor #floralalphabet
  • Adding the flowers Letter A- Ideas for creating different floral alphabets | ChocolateMusings.com #lettera #watercolor #floralalphabet
  • Painting vine flourishes letter A - Ideas for creating different floral alphabets | ChocolateMusings.com #lettera #watercolor #floralalphabet
  • Flourished Letter A - Ideas for creating different floral alphabets | ChocolateMusings.com #lettera #watercolor #floralalphabet
    Flourished Letter A – Ideas for creating different floral alphabets | ChocolateMusings.com #lettera #watercolor #floralalphabet

I had so much fun creating all these styles. As you can see, changing details here and there seem to make a completely different style!

Which way do you think you’ll try first? Of course, you’re welcome to try more than one. I hope you’ve got some ideas on how to create a variety of floral alphabets and you’re inspired to start doodling! Make sure you pin your favorite style to your Pinterest or share it on Facebook with your friends.

Even if you missed us for this challenge, we’d love to see your work! Tag us on Instagram or leave me a comment below – I’d love to know what you tried.

Wishing you joy and creativity every day - Tricia
Ideas to Create Floral Alphabets | Chocolatemusings.com #floralalphabets #flowers #letters

Are you looking for more inspiration? Here are some of my favorite doodling supplies.

Useful Lettering Supplies

  • Pencil – My favorites: Wooden Pencils | 2H Pencils |Drawing Pencil Various Leads | Mechanical Pencils | 2H Mechanical Lead
  • Ruler: 6″ Stainless Steel | 12″ Transparent Ruler
  • Erasers: Plastic Eraser | Click Eraser | White Pearl Eraser | Tombow Mono Black Eraser | Sand Eraser
  • Circle Maker: Helix 6″ | 12″ Ruler
  • Lightbox
  • Laser Level

Paper

  • 32 Lb Printer Paper (I like the HP brand)
  • Tracing paper
  • Rhodia Paper A5 Dot Pad | Rhodia Blank Notebook | Rhodia Size Varieties
  • Marker Paper Varieties | 6×8 Pad Size
  • Bristol Smooth Paper (the best Tombow Marker blending paper I’ve tried so far!)

Explore more ideas & inspiration on the blog!

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Filed Under: Blog, Get Creative, Tutorials & How To Tagged: alphabets, beginner lettering, floral, how to, lettering, Tutorial

How to Learn a New Skill in 5 Easy Steps – and Keep Your Life, Too

August 1, 2019 2 Comments

5 Steps to learn a new skill (and keep your life, too) | ChocolateMusings.com #habits #skills #talents

How to Learn a New Skill – all it takes is a small commitment every day

How to learn a new skill: believe it or not, it doesn’t take a tremendous amount of time every day to learn something new. In reality, all it takes to learn a new skill is a small commitment, every day to develop a new talent or start a new hobby.

What is one thing you want to do but you haven’t started doing it, yet? Maybe it’s because you don’t feel like you have time or it feels too complicated or any other excuse you give yourself.

Practice Makes Progress - 5 Ways to Develop a New Talent or Skill | ChocolateMusings.com #practicemakesprogress #practice #skill

Learning a new skill or practice won’t happen immediately. My kids always say, “I’m not good at that.” My response is either “neither was I until I practiced a lot” or another one of my favorite responses: “well, you’ll have to practice to improve.” Learning a new skill is like riding a bike or learning to swim.

Buying a new bike doesn’t guarantee you’ll keep your balance; it requires practice, practice, practice. It requires skill development and sometimes some scraped knees. But it always requires you get back up and keep going.

Examples of Skills I Want to Learn or Habits to I Want to Develop

  • Learn to create a variety of lettering formats
  • Journal Everyday
  • Write
  • Illustrate books
  • Paint Murals
  • Watercolor Paint
  • Paint realistic art
  • Draw from memory
  • Draw Faces
  • Sell my art
  • Blog full time
  • Keep my house clean
  • Learn something new
  • Watercolor plants
  • Create quotes in awesome layouts
  • Paint florals
  • Photography
  • Write Comics
  • Sing

When I was learning to brush letter, I committed at least 15 minutes per day to the activity. Investing just 15 minutes per day removes a lot of excuses. It feels more like a bite-sized piece every day than eating the whole elephant at once.

ChocolateMusings.com Shop - Find it in the shop!
  • Shark silhouette Wall Art Printable | Chocolate Musings.com
    Shark Silhouette Wall Art Printable {Various Colors}
    $12.50
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  • Tiger silhouette Wall Art Printable | Chocolate Musings.com
    Tiger Silhouette Wall Art Printable {Various Colors}
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  • Penguin silhouette Wall Art Printable | Chocolate Musings.com
    Penguin Silhouette Wall Art Printable {Various Colors}
    $12.50
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  • Fox silhouette in Color Wall Art Printable | Chocolate Musings.com
    Fox Silhouette Wall Art Printable {Various Colors}
    $12.50
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  • Elephant silhouette in Color Wall Art Printable | Chocolate Musings.com
    Elephant Silhouette Wall Art Printable {Various Colors}
    $12.50
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Make Your Own List

Go ahead and get your notebook out or a scrap of paper then brainstorm a list of things that you want to learn. Don’t edit your list right now; write down all the things you want to do. Don’t worry about how long your list is, keep writing until you feel like you’ve listed everything.

Once you’ve listed all the ambitions in your life, choose one (maximum two) items from your list to practice every day for a short amount of time.

Decide which one will capture your focus. You can’t learn everything all at one time. For one thing, the time commitment is certainly not feasible. For another thing, you’re probably overwhelmed by your list already.

Choose One Thing

The above list of skills I want to learn/habits to develop to do isn’t comprehensive by any means, but even that shortlist is overwhelming when it comes to doing them all at once.

Trying to learn everything at once quickly becomes overwhelming. The key to learning a new skill is to focus on one thing at a time. I used to be an advocate for multitasking, but I have learned over time that splitting my efforts is certainly not as effective as focusing on one thing at a time.

I’m not saying to neglect everything else in your life, in fact, contrary to that. Choose one as a focus. I’m not going to neglect cleaning my house while I learn a new skill other than cleaning, but the books I read, the research I do, my general focus will be on creating a different skill instead.

If You Can’t Decide Which One

If you can’t decide, try this: choose the first thing on your list. Think about spending the next 3 months, devoting your time every day to learning that skill. How does that one make you feel? Were you excited or secretly disappointed that it wasn’t another item on your list? If you were disappointed, choose the thing that you thought about doing instead, that’s probably the one you really want to try.

Muscle Memory

You’re creating ‘muscle memory.’ It’s like going to the gym for your brain and hands. Working out a little every day is better than working out in one long session on Saturdays. It creates a more established habit and doesn’t take an entire day to catch up.

If you give yourself just 15 minutes per day, you’ll be amazed at how much you improve at this new skill. A short amount of time every day is better than a big chunk of time – especially when you have to train your hands or mind to do something different like lettering or drawing.

You’ll make better progress if you do a little every day. And you’re not asking yourself to eat huge chunks, which is easier to swallow.

Now Commit to Learning Your New Skill

Just like my cleaning/decluttering regimen, set a specific time for when you intend to do your practice every day.

How to Commit:

Now that you’ve decided which skill you will practice, there are a few things that will help you to commit it to memory. They are simple things, but very useful.

  1. Set a time
  2. Write it down
  3. Block it out on your calendar
  4. Show up & Practice
  5. Every. Single. Day

Set your intentions for real then commit to yourself or tell someone else if you need accountability. Tell them what you are going to do and when you are going to do it.

Comment below, which is the one thing you are going to do & when you are going to do it every day.

5 Steps to learn a new skill (and keep your life, too) | ChocolateMusings.com #habits #skills #talents

My Commitment

For me, I am going to write for my blog for 15 minutes every day at 8:30 am before I go to work. If I need to, I will put in headphones to drown out the extra noise and reduce distractions. My work doesn’t have to be perfect, and I need to show up and do it. Every. Single. Day.

Where can you learn more about creating a habitual creative practice?

I love SkillShare – an online learning environment with hundreds of courses you can take to learn new techniques and enhance your skills. Sign up for a free trial, take some classes and see what else you learn.

Here are some related courses from SkillShare:

365 Day Project
You Can Draw Anything!
Stick to it: How to Maintain a Creative Practice

If you already use skillshare – are there any classes you’ve enjoyed? I’d like to know.

Want to start handlettering? Check out my post for beginning lettering supplies.

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Filed Under: Blog, Find Your Happy, Get Creative, Get Inspired, Habits Tagged: create, habit, how to, learn new skills, learning, lists

The Easy Way to Draw Flowers With Marker Tips

May 13, 2019 4 Comments

How to create flowers {without drawing} + Video Tutorial | ChocolateMusings.com #florals #floral #draw #howto

The Easy Way to Draw Flowers (Without Actually Drawing!)


Drawing flowers without drawing them? Sounds like a trick, right? It’s not. Last week, I showed you how to create 3 simple circles for floral wreaths. Today, I wanted to show you the easy way to draw flowers without {actually} drawing them! Now you can add easy flower wreaths to your bullet journal or around quotes or add flower doodles… The possibilities are endless.

The Trick to Create flowers Without Drawing Tutorial | ChocolateMusings.com #howtodraw #drawing #flowers

Supplies Needed:

The only supplies you need for drawing easy flowers are a brush pen with a flexible tip and a piece of paper.

In my video, I used Tombow dual brush pens, but any other brush pen would work, too! A brush pen works well in this case because the marker has a pointy tip and a rounded base, kind of like a rounded triangle. The bigger the pen, the larger the flower. See below for some examples of easy flower doodles. Guess what? They’re all created without drawing and only using the tip of a brush pen. I even tried it with Crayola markers and they worked too!

Create Easy Flower Doodles {Without Drawing} Tutorial + Video | ChocolateMusings.com #tutorial #howtodraw #flowers

Featured from left to right:

  • Sta Metallic Brush Pen
  • Sharpie Brush Pen
  • Crayola Markers (I know these aren’t a brush pen, but they seem to work, too)
  • Tombow Dual Brush Markers
  • Water pen with watercolor paint
  • Pentel Touch Brush Pens

Watch the video below to see how I draw flowers {without really drawing flowers} then make sure to hit subscribe!

Can’t see the video? Watch it on my YouTube Channel.

The Technique to Create Flowers Without Drawing Them:

Depending on the way you tilt your brush, you can make different shape flowers or leaves. Press straight down with the brush pen to leave an impression of the marker, like a stamp. Make sure you press down from the tip to the rounded base and lift straight up, so you don’t smudge it.

How to Draw Floral Wreaths {Without Knowing How to Draw Flowers} + Video | ChocolateMusings.com #floralwreath #flowers #howtodraw How to Draw Flowers Using ONLY a Brush Tip Marker | ChocolateMusings.com #howtodraw #draw #flowers #brushmarker How to Draw Floral Wreaths {Without Knowing How to Draw Flowers} + Video | ChocolateMusings.com #floralwreath #flowers #howtodraw

Point the tip inward to create a rounded petal shape. If you turn the pen the opposite direction so the tip points outward, you can create a leaf or a bud. I added a darker color on top, in some cases, for more contrast. You can blend the two colors together, but that’s not necessary. You can also choose to stack your petals closer together and create the look of a daisy or separate them out as well.

TIP: Just remember to push straight down and pull straight up with the marker tip – if you move side to side, you’ll leave a streaky mess.

Another fun detail to add once the marker is completely dry on the paper is to add loose outlines with a fine-tipped black pen. Then add in some extra details – like change the shape of the petals or add an interior layer of petals.

Create Easy Flower Doodles to your planner or bullet journal {Without Drawing} Tutorial + Video | ChocolateMusings.com #tutorial #howtodraw #flowers
The No-Draw Brush Marker Flower Tutorial - Add Outlines for Fun Detail | ChocolateMusings.com #tutorial #drawing #flowers

There are lots of ways to easily create flowers without drawing them! One other way is to add dots and specs of color like the freehand wreath below.

Freehand Floral Wreath - Different way to draw flowers | ChocolateMusings.com #floralwreath #silver #doodle

Let me know what you think in the comments below and tag me on
Instagram @ChocolateMusingsCreates because I’d love to see some projects you create.

Wishing you joy and creativity every day - Tricia

4 Comments
Filed Under: Blog, Creating Art - Watercolor, Painting & Drawing, Get Creative, Tutorials & How To Tagged: drawing, flower drawing for beginners, flowers, hand drawing, how to, how to draw flowers, line drawing, Tutorial

How to Draw Circle Wreaths – 3 Simple Ways

May 6, 2019 2 Comments

How to Draw Circle Wreaths – 3 Simple Ways

3 Simple Ways How to Draw Circle Wreaths Tutorial | ChocolateMusings.com #circles #howto #floralwreaths

 

If you haven’t noticed, I LOVE using circles in my bullet journal, but I also enjoy using them for quotes or drawing floral wreaths. Drawing circles for floral wreaths isn’t as hard as it seems. Here are 3 simple ways showing you how to draw circles for floral wreaths or any other circle outlines.

Ways to Use Circles

I like to add mini-floral circular wreaths for the numbers on my weeklies. I filled My May Plan With Me with circle floral wreaths.  Floral wreaths are also a great element to add to quotes. Check out my other posts using circles in your bullet journal or art projects.

Note: I drew these circles in pen so you could see them better in the video and I would recommend drawing with a pencil so you can change elements if needed.

Watch How to Draw Circle Wreaths

Can’t see the video? View it on Youtube.

Tools Needed to Draw Circle Wreaths

Basic Art Supplies for Creating Floral Wreaths | ChocolateMusings.com

Paper
Pen/Pencil/Marker
Compass/Circle Maker (optional depending on the type of circle)
Good Music (optional)

Notes about the tools for drawing circle wreaths:

If You’re Watercoloring:

  • Paper – Canson Watercolor Paper
  • Pen –  use an archival pen like Pigma Micron Pens – be careful about how hard you press on the tips of these pens.
  • Watercolor Paints + Brushes of your choice

If You’re NOT Watercoloring:

  • Paper – if you’re not watercoloring I use HP 32 lb paper
  • Pen – if you’re NOT watercoloring, using a felt-tip pen like PaperMate Flair or the bullet tip of a Tombow Dual Brush Marker will work and creates great lines
Supplies for Drawing Circle Flower Wreaths | ChocolateMusings.com #floral #flower #wreath #circles

Need ideas for drawing your floral elements?

Check out my post highlighting my favorite Flower Drawing & Reference Books.

Favorite Flower Drawing and Reference Books (and why) + Video Flip Through | ChocolateMusings.com #floral #flower #howtodrawflowers

Create a Single Circle Wreath

Using a compass or a circle maker, choose your center point and how big you want the circle. I always mark the center point with a pencil, by marking the center point makes it easier to add circles in the future if you wish.

Follow the path around and then end your wreath. There! You have a single line wreath that you can add additional elements along the whole way or just partially.

Because there the circle maker has moving parts, it does shift a little when making the circle. I tend to pull outwards with my pen, so my pen doesn’t shift within the little circle and the ring ends up the same size. Try it out, you’ll see what I mean when circle start and ending points don’t exactly match up. A little practice will turn you into a circle-making pro!

Create Easy Floral Wreaths - Single Circle | ChocolateMusings.com #floralwreaths #flowerwreath #howto #circle

How to Draw Circles in Multiples

Following the same pattern for the single circle, create a circle once then slightly move the compass up and over and trace in the same selection as the first circle. Then move the compass again just somewhat off your first center mark. (Didn’t I say making that mark would come in handy?) Do this as many times as you like and then add your other floral & leaf elements.

Alternate Technique:

Mark the center point of your circle, that way you could make a single circle as a reference, then draw your floral elements and add more circles afterward.

How To Draw Circle Wreaths - Multiple Circles | ChocolateMusings.com #floralwreaths #flowerwreath #howto #circle

How to Draw Circle Wreaths – Freehand – Organic “Nest”

This technique might seem the most daunting, but it’s also the most fun (in my opinion). The trick is to use your shoulder not your wrist to draw the circles and let it do the work. I’ll try and explain it the best I can here, but watching the video gives you a better idea of what I do.

First of all, I raise my hand above the paper so I’m not tempted to use my wrist to make the circular motions (you’ll get weird, uneven circles if you use your wrist). I hold the pen higher than usual so that I can increase the distance from the paper and my hand.

While still holding the pen in the air and not touching the paper, I start to draw circles using my shoulder to guide my arm around. I do this a few times without writing anything, so I can gauge the movement in my shoulder and see how big I’ll make the circles with the current flow.

After I’m happy with the size of circles, I follow the same movement with my shoulder only and gently touch the tip of the pen to the paper and keep going. I usually go around 7-10 times because none of the circles will be perfect. Making several passes helps even out the circles. It also gives a more organic feel, and I think it looks like the start to a bird’s nest.

How To Draw Easy Freehand Circle Wreaths - Freehand | ChocolateMusings.com #floralwreaths #flowerwreath #howto #circle

Go and Create!

Where will you use your circle-making skills now? I’d love to see how you draw circle wreaths and how you use them! Tag me on Instagram @ChocolateMusingsCreates

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Filed Under: Blog, Creating Art - Watercolor, Painting & Drawing, Get Creative, Tutorials & How To Tagged: Circle, circles, creativity, draw, get creative, hand drawn, how to, ideas, Tutorial, video

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About Me


Hi! I'm Tricia, the creative behind ChocolateMusings.com, I know how it feels to lose your inner muse. After years of darkness (which I call the dark ages of my life), I found my inner muse hiding in the forgotten corners of my soul, I vowed never to lose sight of her again.

Bullet journaling helped reignite the passion for art and living life again while organizing my days. I also discovered modern calligraphy and watercolor. Since then, my use of the bullet journal system has evlolved and I call it 'creative planning'. Here on the blog, I show you how to use your planner to ignite your inner muse and explore creativity and art while staying beautifully organized and living a joyful life.

I invite you to grab some good chocolate and dive into my musings. Let’s ignite your inner muse.

Read more on the about me page. You can also find my policies and disclosures here.

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