DIY Watercolor Line Art Decor

This DIY Watercolor Line Art Decor can be made in 20 minutes and makes the perfect modern minimal wall decor for your home.

I love creating art for our home. As I’m finishing a room makeover, I look at the space and decide the scale of piece I need and the type of piece I’d like it to be (textile, framed art, photo, canvas etc). By DIYing your art, you’re able to customize your home for a fraction of the price of custom art. Or really… a fraction of the price of most art. I’d say 90% of the art in our home is DIY.

In our bathroom, I wanted the decor to be pretty neutral, taking up the space over the toilet and I wanted to stay away from word art (we have another small piece of word art in there). I really wanted to bring the soft neutrals into the piece and balance it with black accents as we have in the rest of the space.

I chose to make this watercolour and line art decor with torn edges in a floating frame. I love how minimal and subtle it is and how perfectly it flows with the other design choices in the space. Did I mention it cost me under $20 including the frame since I had most supplies in my craft stash? Heck yes, friends!

DIY Line Art and Watercolor wall decor in floating frame for a bathroom

It was so popular in my bathroom makeover, I’ve since turned this piece into a free printable series and now… a tutorial!

Alright, let’s get to the DIY.

To make this DIY Watercolor and Line Art Decor, you’ll need:

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Watercolor Paper (this is the one I love)
Watercolor Paints (I used my Kuretake Palette)
Watercolour brushes (You could use any for this project)
Permanent black marker (permanent will help prevent bleed if the watercolour isn’t *totally* dry)
Thin floating frame (I can’t find a comparable online, see notes down below)
Matte black spray paint (optional, I preferred the look compared to the shiny black the frame came in)

Start by mixing up your watercolor paints. I like to use solid watercolor paints and mix them up on a palette. This glass one is awesome, but honestly a plate or little dish is perfect too!

Use a scrap piece of paper to test your shades until you get a perfect opacity and vibrancy. You can see me mix up solid watercolour paints in this video if you’re interested.

Modern Minimal watercolour art for your home- painting a half circle with blush watercolor paints

Neutral watercolour paint with abstract shapes for a DIY Line Art and Watercolor wall decor tutorial

Once you’re happy with the paints, start painting the abstract circles on your piece of water colour paper. I prefer to tear the edges once it’s painted to prevent the edges from soaking in more paint (torn edges will saturate differently). Add water to your shapes to create some interesting texture in your watercolor shapes.

Let this dry completely before the next step.

Line art florals for a DIY Line Art and Watercolor wall decor

Practice while you’re waiting for it to dry! Grab your marker and try making some line art florals. I like to try do each flower in just one continuous line. I love how simple this looks. It’s a bit abstract so even if you’re not a great artist, it looks so cool. I prefer to start from the stem and work my way up to the flower. You can see some other styles of line art florals in this project here.

Once you’re happy with your art, draw it out! You can definitely sketch it in pencil first and then go over it with your marker if you’re feeling nervous. Pencil erases, even with watercolour :)

Once you’ve completed your DIY watercolour and line art piece (yay!) it’s time to frame it up! If you choose a floating frame like I did, I suggest tearing the edges for a bit more texture and interest. To do this, I fold to create a very strong crease (fold back and forth), then tear slowly towards me. You’l see how much texture this adds, but by folding first your line will be mostly straight.

The frame I used is THE most affordable floating frame you can get from Michaels. Honestly, it’s pretty cheap plastic. But spray painting that black edge a matte colour with matte black spray paint elevated it SO much. I’ve been asked about this particular picture frame so many times and it’s really just that cheap ;).

Set your art in place using double sided tape or a roll of regular tape and assemble the frame. Then stand back and admire your hard work! You did that! That beautiful watercolor and line art picture was made by YOU!

LIKE IT? PIN IT!