3 Easy Watercolour Valentine's Day Card Ideas

If you’re planning to get your valentine a gift, then you’re sure to want to include a card! Whether you’re writing to a significant other or just someone you’re close to, you can always share your love through a thoughtful message.

You can also make it even more special by creating your own card! Etchr’s watercolour greeting cards help you do that, as the paper is perfect for painting on, and you get a stack of matching envelopes to boot.

But if you’re stuck on ideas on what to draw or paint, then look no further – this blog was written just for you.

1. Forever Flowers

It’s pretty traditional to gift flowers or a bouquet on Valentine’s Day. The downside is, cut flowers don’t last very long. So why not capture their loveliness in a painting instead? 

Different flowers send different messages, but the most well-known must be the red rose, which symbolises love, romance, and beauty. They’re pretty easy to paint as well, so grab your brushes and paints – we’ll jump straight into it!

First, pick up some red paint. It should be pretty saturated since we’re painting the centre first.

Paint 3 tapered strokes that kind of form a round-ish triangle in the centre, which will be your innermost petals.

Then, continue surrounding the rose’s centre with more brushstrokes that gradually get bigger as you move further away. 

Each brushstroke becomes a petal, which can curl slightly around each other for a bit of overlap.

Also, gradually add more and more water to your red paint. So the petals around the outside are lighter than the ones near the centre. You can even let the different shades of red bleed into one another for a “blooming” effect!

Tip: Just remember to leave some white gaps between some of the petals. This helps make it, so your rose doesn’t become one giant blob of red! 

You can paint several roses together; maybe one rose for every year you’ve been with your valentine? You can also use different colours, though check each colour's meaning before painting (yes, roses mean different things depending on their colour!).

Once you’re done, paint a few leaves around your roses. Rose leaves are a pretty standard leaf shape, and you can vary your green by mixing different ratios of yellow to the blue paint. Read here to learn more about how to use and mix green!

If you (or your valentine) are tired of roses, you can paint peonies instead, which symbolise similar things, like love and happiness.

They’re pretty similar to paint, too, but peonies are even easier – just paint some concentric pink circles around a centre, then gradually spread out from the middle while adding more water to your paint. Then, add a stray petal or two around the outside to complete the effect. 

Again, you can add some leaves and/or stems to add contrast to your flowers, though peonies have longer, tapered leaves that come in groups of 3 or 5. And voila! You have some effortless yet pretty flowers that will last much longer than real flowers.

If you're feeling a bit adventurous, try using a spray bottle to spray the wet flowers. This will give a beautiful loose effect to your painting. We talk about this more in our easy loose florals tutorial.

Bonus tip: If none of these flowers is to your liking, you can check out our blog on how to easily paint various types of flowers! And even if the flower doesn’t symbolise what you want, if your valentine has a favourite flower, then I think it’s fine to paint those instead!

2. The Language of Love

Love is often about making the other person happy, so for some, it might be a better idea to go for something with comedic value.

There are some great jokes and puns for Valentine’s Day out there, but you can always think of your own! After choosing one, you can illustrate it on your card to double the comedic effect.

I thought of a silly yet cute one, which led to this otter-themed card. Of course, you can make yours more special by illustrating something your valentine likes or painting different characters or scenes.

If your valentine loves puns, then do something punny! If they prefer inside jokes, then you’ll need to do some reminiscing.

In any case, the goal is to get a smile or maybe even a chuckle out of your valentine! You know what they like, so use that to your advantage.

3. Love Song

For most weddings I’ve been to, the couple usually picked one or two songs that they felt encompassed their feelings for each other. If you have a song like that, you can pick out one or two lines from the lyrics and illustrate them for your card.

For example, “You are my Sunshine” is a popular one from Johnny Cash. You can paint a beaming sun or a giant sunflower!

Make sure to add the corresponding lyrics to your illustration, too, to give it context. And don’t forget to credit whom you’re quoting!

Other songs might be more difficult or even impossible to illustrate. If so, you could try doing some calligraphy or brush lettering instead, then decorate the words with some hearts, sparkles, flowers – whatever you wish.

Love is in the Air

I hope there are enough card ideas for you to spark some of your own! There’s no “one way” to make Valentine’s Day cards, so you’re only limited by your own imagination. 

That being said, each relationship is unique, so only you will know how you best relate to your loved one(s). And as long as your card’s message of love is received, then it really doesn’t matter whether you’re the best artist in the world or just a beginner.

We wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day and that all your relationship goals will be fulfilled!

Have you made your own Valentine’s card before? What ideas are you planning to explore this Valentine’s Day? Feel free to share in the comments below!

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Nicola Tsoi is a practicing graphic designer and illustrator based in Hong Kong. During her downtime, she likes to watch birds do funny things, search for stories, and bake up a storm. She keeps a pet sourdough starter named Doughy.