November Autumn Leaves Watercolor Art Journal Page

It’s so satisfying to sit down and create a beautiful art journal page. If you love to watercolor or want to start this form of art expression this November Autumn Leaves Watercolor Art Journal Page is the perfect place to begin! This journal page is easy to create and perfect for the beginner.

Some of the most beautiful art journal and planning pages I’ve created have been during the autumn season. There is such a variety of rich colors and nature inspiration to draw from in this season! Plus, I also happen to love leaves and autumn! So it’s a perfect parining.

This journal page was inspired by the somewhat unexpected passing of my mother-in-law in November 2020. As her family busied themselves with her funeral arrangements, I kind of felt disconnected from it all. One day while I sat staring out the window I noticed the colorful leaves gently falling from the trees. It was in that moment I felt inspired to create this journal page in her memory.

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Aside from my husband, the one thing my mother-in-law and myself connected on was gardening and plants. You might remember A Garden of Memories Brimming with Irises and Clematis post where I shared I have essentially a memorial garden of purple irises compliments of my mother-in-law. It was, I believe, that connection that caused me to take notice of the falling leaves on this particular day.

It seemed very fitting to create a nature themed journal spread to record my thoughts and/or memories of her. What I really loved about these journal pages is the vibrant colors; and even though I had no idea how I was going to set it up or how I wanted to use it, I just pulled out the paint, water and got to work.

Supplies

• Planner Perfect Journal
• Koi Sakura Watercolor Paint
• Watercolor Paint Brush, Round (Size 8)
• Tombow Dual Brush Pen, Saddle Brown, 977
• Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen Black
• We R Memory Keepers Heat Gun
• Sakura Gelly Roll Pen Pack White

I don’t in any way declare myself a watercolor expert (yet!). But I have learned some tips and tricks along my journey in learning watercolor painting. That said, I only used 5 watercolors in this spread, I simply added more or less water to get the color level I was satisfied with. By using this technique you also add dimension to your artwork.

Watercolors Used

• Yellow Ochre #071
• Burnt Umber #194
• Permanent Yellow Deep #076
• Permanent Orange #024
• Cadium Red Hue #017

November Autumn Leaves Watercolor Art Journal Page

Before I go through each step I’d like to add that I did no drawing on the pages before I started, this was all free hand.

Step 1

As it is with most of my journal pages, I started this journal spread with a light wash of yellow ochre watercolor (#071) for a base. I simply worked my brush back and forth on each page for a swash of color.

Step 2

Next, I created the tree trunks and branches using burnt umber watercolor (#194), making sure to vary the heights of the tree trunks. Once that first coat dried, I applied a second, slightly darker coat of the same brown as a highlight of the tree trunks and each branch.

Step 3

From there I used permanent yellow deep (#076) to create the first layer of leaves on the tree and on the ground. This layer of leaves was also to shape the look of the trees and mimic fallen leaves on the ground. To add dimension, I added in just a little more yellow to the watercolor mix in my pan and gave the leaves another layer of deeper yellow.

To get the effect of “leaves” you simply use your round brush and lightly dab your brush to the page in a “dotted” type fashion.

Step 4

Once the layers of yellow leaves were dry, I added a second layer of leaves using both yellow and orange watercolor paint. By adding in this layer of color I’m also adding dimension to the overall look because leaves are not all the same color.

Adding Dimension

In this step I used the mixed watercolor paints to create a second layer of falling leaves. This added a beautiful dimension to the overall journal pages.

Use the colors below to achieve the same watercolor and mix to desired.

• Yellow #071
• Orange #024

You can add more of one color over the other to achieve the look you are going for. That is the beauty of watercolor! It’s completely subjective and becomes your creation.

The best part of this whole process is creating the leaves. By using the dabbing technique your leaves appear very natural and organic in shape and you are able to put color where you want it to be.

Step 5

This final layer consisted of the same watercolors mixed together but this time I added in a little more red for a deeper dimension of the leaves.

Last Layer of Watercolor Leaves

To make sure your last layer of watercolor for the leaves shines through, be sure to completely dry your page using a heat gun tool.

Mix the following watercolors together and dab in your leaves.

• Yellow #071
• Orange #024
• Red #017

It took quite a few layers of color, but, I was really pleased with how this journal page turned out. It was my first time creating something like this and I couldn’t be happier with the results…and it was super easy to create!

Step 6

Once the trees and leaves were dry I decided to add two watercolor organic vine framed boxes (one on each page) using burnt umber (#194). The box on the left page will hold my mother-in-laws name and birth/death dates; and the box on the right page holds a beautifully complementary quote.

This quote was the perfect addition to the completion of this art journal page.

Step 7

The final step was to hand letter the month “November” using my Tombow dual brush pen (#977). I also used a white gelly roll pen #8 to add some highlights to each letter.

There is no definite plan on how I wanted to use these pages. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to journal on both pages or keep it short and sweet. Want to know what the end result looked like? Be sure to join the Creative Planning Expressions Community to see how I used these journal pages.

Be sure to also follow me over on Instagram under @BTDPlans for more inspiring journal page ideas, tips and tricks!

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