Using Tombow Dual Brush Pens, let’s make a bright and colorful DIY Leopard Print Card for a birthday.

This post was first posted over on the Tombow USA blog. I am part of the 2021 Tombow Design Team.
This post contains affiliate links which mean I make a little something when you purchase through the link with no extra cost to you.
As part of the Tombow Design Team, we were asked to create a project inspired by an artist of our choice. As I was deciding who to feature this month, I was really drawn to Emma Hall.

What stood out to me about her artwork was first the colors. I usually love a bright primary color palette, but I loved Emma’s color palette, that is totally different from what I usually gravitate towards. Her use of color in her patterns and in her animal drawings I absolutely loved. And I love that you can purchase her artwork on cards. I always have a stack of beautiful cards on hand. You never know when you might need to send off a quick note.
With these things as my inspiration, I knew I wanted to make a card. And I knew I wanted to use my favorite Dual Brush Pens to make it.
How To Make a Leopard Print Card
These are the supplies you’ll need to make a Leopard Print Card.
The first thing I needed to do was figure out which of the 108 Dual Brush Pens were the right shades to create my leopard card. I used a piece of paper to swatch the colors. I noted the number of each color so I could go back to them later. By comparing my swatches to her floral print, I decided that 803, 925, and 403 were the colors I wanted to use for this project.

Once I decided on my colors, I cut a piece of watercolor paper to 8″x6″. Then used the MONO Graph Pencil to draw a light line across the middle so I would end up with a 4″x6″ card.

I added some color to the bottom half of the card with Dual Brush Pen 803. Then used the water brush to spread the color around and create a watercolor effect. By taping the very edge of the card down with washi tape, it helps not only keep the card in place while working, it also helps the paper from curling. Which can happen when working with water.

Let the paper and ink dry before then creating some various shaped splotches all around the card using color 925. I just placed these randomly around the paper, creating a base for the rest of the leopard design.

How to Create a Leopard Print
To give the card even more of a leopard print, I used Dual Brush Pen 403 to add color around the 925 spots. I wanted to not make these spots and layers as smooth. Give them more of a squiggly edge to give it the look of a leopards fur. They don’t need to be as smooth or as round in shape.

To finish the card, use a Tombow Fudenosuke to write a greeting. For this card I want to be able to use it for a birthday party, so I wrote “hey party animal”. I loved the leopard with the party hat card that Emma made.

After writing Hey Party Animal, I felt like it needed just a bit more leopard pattern. Using Dual Brush Pen 403, I added a few more small spots to finish the leopard print birthday card.
Remove the washi tape and fold it in half and you have a fun handmade birthday card. I know whoever recieves this card is going to love it!

Emma Hall is a British artist who lives in Lisbon, Portugal. Her are features landscapes, wildflowers and animals. She combines both physical and digital art to create her artwork and you can find her prints available on Etsy, Creative Market, Instagramand on her website.
Happy Card Making!
Liz
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