When you want to learn new techniques, it can be a good idea to try them on postcard sized watercolor paper.

You will have fun with these painting exercises, the postcards are easy to make and they will look great.

You might also like: Fun summer art activity: Watercolor Ombre Postcards

Here are a few techniques you can try to make watercolor and mixed media postcards.

Salt textures

Paint a wash on the paper and sprinkle salt when the wash is still wet but just before the point where it will start loosing its shine.

Once the wash had time to dry, brush off the salt, you should see the flower like texture made by the salt.

Draw with black markers, add designs on top of the background.

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Sakura Pigma Micron Pen Pigma Micron pens are acid-free and archival, making them ideal for any application requiring precision and permanance. Pigma ink is derived from a single pigment to ensure color consistency, and is fadeproof against sunlight or UV light. – Set of 6, Black

Start with a simple pattern and slowly add more to it.

Leave a bit of the background without marks.

Paint a darker wash in the same tones on the background and on some places of the design if you want to.

The finished postcard.

Sponge textures

Using a natural sponge dipped in a watercolor wash, paint textures in the background.

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White Silk Sponge, 2-1/2″ – 3″ White Silk Sponges have an open texture for stipling. These sponges are highly absorbant with tiny refined pores.

Using a regular marker or an acrylic marker like here, start adding textures to the background.

Keep building up on your design to add complexity

The finished postcard.

Wax resist

Drawing with oil pastels is a simple way to add resist ( areas that won’t be painted) on a card.

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Holbein Academic Oil Pastel Sets These superior student grade oil pastels feature smooth, even pigmentation and no hard spots or bubbles. They handle, blend, and clean easily. Holbein Academic pastels can be used on virtually any surface. Ideal for quick sketching and student use.

Here I am using a white oil pastel on white paper so it is easier to see when the paper is hold flat against the light of a window.

Once you are done with the design you can start painting a watercolor wash on top.

The paint won’t go on the paper in the places where you did use the pastel, although tiny drops can still dry on the wax.

The finish postcard, I like the tile-like appearance.

Plastic wrap visual textures

Wrap paper will make the paint form geometric textures, this technique works on regular watercolor paper as well as on yupo paper. Here on regular paper, I am painting an irregular wash mixing tones of blue and yellow.

While the wash is still wet, place some plastic wrap on top. It will stick to the paper in some places and make folds in other places.

Once the wash has dried, take off the plastic wrap and start adding designs with a marker.

Here again, once you are done drawing you can add more contrast by painting the background a bit darker.

The finished postcard.

You can proceed the same way on yupo paper. Start by painting a wash with a few colors mixing wet into wet.

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Yupo Watercolor Paper Yupo is a compelling and unique alternative to traditional art papers. It’s a synthetic paper, machine-made in the USA of 100% polypropylene. It is waterproof, stain resistant, and extremely strong and durable. PH neutral.

Plastic wrap will also adhere to yupo in some places, forming geometric textures.

Remove the plastic wrap once the wash has dried, which will take longer on yupo paper because the paper is waterproof.

Then start adding designs with a marker, you can use tissue paper under your hand not to disrupt the watercolor background.

Here I did draw Flower overlapping each other.

The finished design.

Feel free to share picture of your postcards in the comments!