Art that Impacts: Watercolor Fashion for your Walls

It’s no secret that fine art inspires fashion. From sweaters inspired by the work of artist Jamie Reid to travel capes inspired by Vincent Van Goh’s The Starry Night, many significant art images have found their way onto fabric, and then into clothing.

They’re still popular in our homes, as well. From minimalist pieces to a recent trend of bold maximalist strokes, the styles and techniques are as varied as the people who buy them. New art forms are emerging.

At the same time, classic art mediums, such as watercolors and oils, are continually being refined, along with the subjects being painted—and the artists who paint them.

You can combine the two and live a life of high home fashion inspired by those brilliant and breezy watercolors. Vibrant watercolors on your walls, vibrant colors in your wardrobe, making sure that your home is never dull and dreary. You can live a life of colorful abundance and enjoy every day to its brightest. 

Eye-catching wall art options are more than just items that look good. They’re an investment in how your home feels, and how it makes you feel. The right art can help bring an entire room together and transform your living experience for the better.  

Layers of Light and Color

For watercolor artist Hyeon Moon, playing with watercolor pigments and tube paints like Daniel Smith’s watercolor sets is a little bit unpredictable and a lot of fun.

He uses dry pigments more for backgrounds and the appearance of backlighting in his landscapes and cityscapes. The tube paints come in handy for details, because they have a smoother application and he can control the spread more easily.

Moon was first trained in the Korean style of watercolor, which uses brush strokes that meet or cross each other in certain areas. After moving to the United States, Moon began using American techniques on 140-pound paper.

“The techniques are a little bit different,” he said.

Moon works from the foreground to the background and from light colors to dark to create impressions of peace and wellness—something that is currently trending in American Art. Like many watercolor artists and artists in general, he takes the creative process seriously. He’s constantly studying, applying new techniques, and building his own brand and style.

“I just want to keep learning,” he said. “I want to improve myself.”

Improving Your Mood

It’s no secret that colors and lighting have a big impact on your mood. Like Hyeon Moon, you can help create a sense of serenity and inspirational colors with the right choices. Match your wall art to the room and the mood you want to foster.

For living rooms and hallways, scenic vistas of watercolor mountain valleys, lakes, and blue skies are a great way to promote a relaxing atmosphere. 

Korean art often tends to embrace this sense of calmness in its portrayals, whether the paintings depict flowers, relaxing garden shrines, or even tigers in repose. These pieces are great for bedrooms and home offices, giving the area a sense of thoughtful reflection and quiet joy. 

Even small pieces like a framed watercolor on your end table can have a nice effect on your living space. You could even have a custom-made watercolor set beneath the glass in your coffee table’s frame to have a beautiful and long-lasting centerpiece. 

The Impact of Landscapes, Cityscapes, and People Paintings

Bold, maximalist strokes and nature-inspired simple pieces such as leaves are also currently trending.

Moon stays away from that type of work.

Although something that’s painted quickly and can be reproduced for maximum sales appeals to many artists, part of the reason Moon paints is to be able to develop his techniques and understanding and to create a joyful emotional impact.

“Some people want business,” he said. “I want art.”

Moon’s favorite season to paint is autumn, because of the bright and warm color combinations (like those found in this orange floral maxi-dress by Lulus). He also likes painting snowscapes because they bring a feeling of warmth and safety.

“I feel very comfortable when I paint snow,” he said.

Seasonal Serenity

One way you can manage your high home fashion is to keep trend with the seasons. Have some different wall art for each season. In between rotations, store them somewhere dry and safe from the elements.

When the seasons change, bring out the new pieces to help celebrate and meet the changes with enthusiasm.

Nothing will spruce up your transition into Winter with some serene snowscapes and frozen ponds in your art. Twinkling villages shining brightly on a cold Winter night are great focal points for your wall art. 

For warmer seasons, try paintings emphasizing sunlit green leaves, winding blue creeks, and bright floral arrangements. Oranges, yellows, blues, and greens are great for embracing the lush seasons, and work just as well when worn in colorful floral dresses.

You can also decorate your home with arrangements of similarly-colored flowers, whether fake or real and bring all those colors to life.

Cities in Water

Watercolor is fantastic for making those cityscapes just as beautiful as the natural scenery. A city street with a diner in view can make for a wonderful piece, recalling a nighttime get-together from years past or your favorite diner from your hometown.

Sleeping cities in watercolors use bold colors and strokes contrasting shining streetlights with the darkened neighborhoods, a few lights still on, whether lives are unfolding. 

Holiday scenes also make for great cityscapes. Streets lined with decorated trees and snow-capped cars are tranquil or can embody the excitement of a holiday season.

Korean art often does a fantastic job of capturing the bustle and buzz of a living city. Even the smogs and fumes of passing trams and cars take on artistic quality in watercolor, capturing the essence of city life even if you are living in the heart of the country.  

Customizing your Home Fashion with Fine Art

Moon sells a handful of his paintings on his Etsy site, but a significant number of his pieces are custom-orders. People who hire him send him photos of a home or another place they love. Moon embellishes the landscape around it while he paints.

“I just add a little bit to it,” he said.

The result is an extraordinary mix of nostalgia and creativity meant to symbolize the integration of the old and new, constant improvement, and ultimate success. In one sense, it’s fashion for the home, based on the home itself.

Blending Fashion with Art

There’s a significant debate about the role of art in fashion, and whether fashion has become an art form itself.

It might be a perspective thing.

Whether you go for watercolor landscapes or acrylic leaf paintings, how you decorate your walls is akin to what you wear on your body. It says something about you, your personality, and the way you live.

Many people are now coordinating their stylistic choices not just within their own wardrobe, but with the very type of art they put on display. Bold, vibrant clothing options full of color are growing more popular even outside the warmer months. There is always room for simple blacks and simple whites in your wardrobe, but the growing popularity of color has met the need for artistic works.

The result?

People are just as conscious about what they’re putting on their walls as they are what they’re putting on their bodies. 

Whether it’s Western or Korean art, watercolor or painstakingly realistic artistic renderings, the art you choose helps to determine how you see yourself just as much as it affects how others see you. Tranquil or bombastic, reflective or bursting with colors, high home fashion has never been more of a statement. 

What are your walls saying about you lately?