Watercolour Agate Slices

A while back, while searching for watercolour inspiration, I found this gorgeous tutorial for painting watercolour agate slices. The tutorial is great - it shows step by step instructions on how to make them look very much like the real crystals. There are also about 5 slices shown in the tutorial, so you can be inspired by the different colour variations.

At our old place, I wanted something small for the hallway area, so I proceeded to start with a set of 3. I cut my watercolour paper to 5×7 and started following the tutorial step by step. It was a fun painting to do, and it didn’t take a ton of time. I enjoyed playing around with the different looks that I could get from the watercolours by using different techniques such as wet-on-wet, salt, and a sea sponge.

I had started with the turquoise one - being my favourite colour - and all and then added a purple and a blue painting to keep within a cool range of tones. After I finished, I bought some simple black frames from the dollar store and hung them on the wall. Voila! Beautiful handmade art!

Here’s how they looked when I originally “finished” and hung them:

I liked how the agate slices came out, but didn’t think that they really felt like a “set”. I also wasn’t really happy with the black frames, because I felt like they competed with the colours of the paintings.

Nowadays, I have changed out the purple one for a more teal-blue based agate slice. I also added gold detail around the edges and a bit on the inside which I think adds a little more visual interest.

Since we moved into the new place, I have changed out the purple one for a more Pthalo blue based agate slice. I also updated the frames and painted them with a nice fresh white to really let the colour of the paintings shine. In our new place, they are in the bathroom above the towel rack and really complement my watercolour painting that is also hung there. I think using the gold pen to create some detail in the paintings also really helped to tie them into the gold storage containers that we have sitting on the counter!

I’m super happy with the small changes that I made to the agate slices. They make these paintings look way better, and SO much more cohesive! I actually feel like they’re a set now.

After I hung these up, I knew that at least our bathroom was finished! Now for the rest of the rooms in the house.

Let me know what you think of my agate slices!

-tess