I was reading in the gospel of John and came upon verses 7: 37-38 which say: “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”. I knew I wanted to paint a waterfall and river to illustrate this verse and the “living water”, but I had never painted a waterfall before!
So I did what I always do when I don’t know how to paint something- I spent a couple hours watching a TON of process videos and tutorials on YouTube and Skillshare! Then I figured out the easiest way possible to create it myself, using the supplies I already had. (I know I share a ton of painting tutorials here, but am all self taught and still have SO MUCH to learn. So I love creating art in the most simplified way that I can 🙂 )
I freehanded the waterfall on my page, but I know that freehanding can be hard, especially for beginners, so I made a quick and messy little sketch that you can use for free!
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FREE WATERFALL SKETCH PRINTABLE
The Tutorial
This tutorial is a longer one because I wanted to make sure that it includes all the information you need to create this yourself! I truly believe that you can paint this watercolor waterfall. (This was the first waterfall I have ever attempted and it turned out pretty great!)
Remember to have fun with it!
Masking Fluid vs. White Paint
Now, through all my research, the big thing I hear from professionals when using watercolor is that you shouldn’t ever use white paint. The paper itself should be your white and you just don’t paint over those spots. So, when painting something like a waterfall, where you want white space to represent the water splashing or sun glinting off the water, you would use masking fluid to cover those white spaces beforehand. You paint over the dried masking fluid, then rub it off and reveal the original white page underneath. This looks BEAUTIFUL and gives you the traditional watercolor look.
BUT, using masking fluid can be tricky and hard to use! So when I couldn’t find my masking fluid (that I used for THIS tutorial on masking fluid flowers) I took it as a sign to make this waterfall easier and throw the “rules” away.
Instead of using only watercolor, I simply went in after painting the majority of the waterfall with a white paint pen to add the splashes and details! I felt like doing it this way took a lot of the pressure away from trying to paint the perfect waterfall painting.
Because Bible journaling is not about creating perfect works of art! It’s about spending time in the word and worshipping the Lord. So while simplifying things may be frowned upon among professionals, we don’t need to worry about that! (Of course, if you want to use masking fluid instead of white paint, I say go for it!)
Supplies Used
*This article contains affiliate links. CLICK HERE for my full disclosure*
ESV Single Column Journaling Bible– Check out my post on Choosing A Journaling Bible to learn out more about other Journaling Bible options and find the right one for you.
Kurretake Gansai Tambi Watercolors (48)– I have the 48 color set, but they also have smaller and cheaper sets like THIS 36-color set.
UniPosca White Paint Pen, Extra Fine 1M– You could also use a white gel pen! I like the Unibal Signo Gel Pens.
Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen (or you can use stamps/stickers/etc.)
Small Round Paintbrush– I use cheap brushes from value packs like this one.
Other Helpful Tutorials
- Eight Must-Have Bible Journaling Supplies
- Brush Pen Calligraphy Basics
- Brush Pen Calligraphy- Bounce Lettering
- Faux Calligraphy Tutorial- Three Simple Steps To Beautiful Hand Lettering
- 10 Simple Hand-Lettering Styles (Plus a free cheat sheet)
