In this beginner watercolor painting tutorial, we are going to paint 12 different flowers. Simple peonies, berries, rosebuds, lavender, daisies and so many more because it is every watercolor flower you will ever need to paint watercolor floral. Many thanks to Shayda who will guide you step-by-step, so you can successfully paint all of them at home!
Watercolor supplies used in this tutorial:
Of course, it doesn’t mean you have to use exactly the same supplies 🙂
- Block of hot pressed paper from Canson
- 2 glasses of clean water
- Paper towel for blotting
- Koi watercolor paints from Sakura
- 2 brushes :
- 1 animal hair round brush ($25)
- 1 synthetic round brush ($3)
Use the synthetic brush to mix all your paints and set your color palette before you start so you won’t have to switch between the brushes as you are painting.
Flower #1: Branch of Buds or Berries
Start with a simple curved line and then add little branches along the length. There could be as many as you want, they can go any which way it totally doesn’t matter, don’t overthink it.
Then with a contrasting color of your choice, use the tip of your brush and drag it out slightly to create little bud shapes.
That’s a really easy one and it’s great for filler!
Flower #2: Simple Four Petal Flower – Snappy
Start by mixing up a very very light color, like peach or pink with lots of water and lots of white.
Create a petal by simply dragging the body of the brush across the page either one twice or maybe three times. Try to just let that sit and try to not overwork it or change it too much.
Then, where there’s a little more negative space along the top of each petal, use the very tip of the brush to join it all together so it looks like there’s a nice highlight.
Use a darker tone of the color you are using to add a little bit of that darker color to the center of the flower and maybe to the tips of one or two petals.
Then take a darker color like a green, blue or black. Use the body of the brush and drag it across the page to create the shapes of leaves. You can also use a lighter color by adding a little more water to the paint in order to get a kind of dual color. The leaves do not have to be perfect.
Then again use the tip of the brush to make the stamen in the center of the flower. Make these little dots going around in a very perfectly imperfect circle. Flowers should never be perfectly symmetrical, it would just look odd.
Use the tip to make fine lines to join the dots all together.
Flower #3: Simple Four Petal Flower from Another Angle – Snappy
We keep the same flower but on an angle. Make the petals shapes much smaller with just one or two strokes of the belly of the brush by dragging it across the page. You can do either three or four petals.
As before, with the tip of the brush, use the darker tone and allow it to seep out into the wet of the center of the flower.
Take the darker color and use the tip of the brush to add fine branches and the body to create leaves.
Flower #4: Berries
I know it’s not exactly a flower but berries are great for filling in pace when you are designing a floral piece.
Simply use the belly, that wider bottom art of the brush, to drag out the paint into a circular shape. Again in a very not symmetrical or very perfect way, you can group these berries however you like.
With a different color, I used black but you can certainly use any color green or brown to join them together with some little stems.
Flower #5: Open Peony
Start with a very light color pink and do a circle shape. Not a full circle but some sort of very light circle circular shape with empty areas.
Then pick a darker color pink and enclose that light circle with petal shapes a little bit rounded. The one facing the viewer should be quite round with some of the petals smaller than the others.
Along the top, continue to enclose that circle. Make sure that the side petals go out far enough that it looks natural. These petals will form this nice flower shape and add a bit of color in the middle where you will place the stemens.
While waiting for it to dry, add some leaves by dragging the belly of the brush across the page. You can shake and wiggle it a little to get a natural effect. Don’t hesitate to move your painting around so you can pull the brush towards you easily.
When the flower has started to dry a little bit, use a light brown on the tip of your brush and just add little vertical lines and dots to represent the big stamen in the middle of the peony. When a peony opens up it’s got that wonderful burst of golden yellow at its center.
Flower #6: Vertical Flower
Start with a stem divided into three that all comes to a point of one at the bottom.
Then take a dark blue or any other dark color. Put lots of paint on your brush and release it through the tip in a sort of quick stippling motion to get some dots. It results in a messy but very beautiful vertical flower.
Flower #7: Daisy
Mix up a very light grey with a little of purple or red in it and lots of white. Use the belly of your brush and drag it across the page to create petal shapes and the tip to do simple lines following the directions of the petals.
Also use the tip to put a little bit of dark grey at the top where the stamen will be. The key withe daisy is that you need to make the page look as though it is part of the flower and so what you are actually painting is the shadowy petals.
Use a dark green to do some raggedy little leaves.
Finally, use a light yellow and just stippling in a semicircle to represent the stamen at the top.
Flower #8: Very Simple Roses
Start with some dots then make some curved lines encircling them. Let these curving rounded lines get a little bigger and wider and the paint a little lighter as you move away from the dots.
You can add darker paint into the wet area around the dots in the center to give a nice effect as the paint seeps out.
Then, simply enclose these little rosebuds with some tiny leaves.
Finally, as it begins to dry, you can add more and more dark paint to the center but you certainly don’t have to.
If you like roses, checkout this tutorial: Watercolor Rose Tutorial, Easy Step-by-Step Guide.
Flower #9: Lavender
Create a milky purpley gray with white, grey and a bit of purple paints. Then lay down two or three stems going any which way and create some little lavender petals in one stroke of the brush along them. You can drag the brush either away from you or towards you with some of them grouped together and some stand alone to get a beautiful, perfectly imperfect look of the lavender.
Then use a darker purple and add mostly to one side of the lavender and wherever you like it.
Take a green just on the tip of your brush and add some curvy and messy stems that go through the center. The key with flowers is keeping it a little strange and a little bit messy because they are not supposed to look perfect.
Flower #10: Group of Little Four Petal Flower
The beauty of this one is that you can do a grouping that looks really detailed and pretty which is perfect for a floral motif or a wreath as you need large and small flowers.
The first step is to paint many little four or three petal flowers.
Then join them together using a darker color and just the tip of your brush. Add some little dots in the center of each flower to create that loose stamen.
Every flower should have a tiny branch but you don’t need to connect all the branches.
Use the same dark brown to make some tiny leaves. This flower is all about creating tiny detailed elements so you can use it as a very pretty space filler when you are not sure what to put somewhere.
Flower #11: Heart Shapes Little Flowers
This one belongs in the same category as the previous one as it is great for filling space in a floral design.
Start by making flowers that are little heart shapes or little V shapes. Then join them together using a contrasting color like a green or a brown.
It creates a burst or spray of floral buds that fills in space really nicely.
Flower #12: Echinacea Flower
Start by painting four or five petals that are oval shapes in the back. Then place two larger petals in the front to create the look of that open flower. You can add one more in behind if you need to finish the circle.
Then join them with some stems and maybe add a leaf or two.
Wait for them to dry and then add the stamens by adding a little bit of messy brown in the center.
All the 12 different flowers are great as part of watercolor wreaths or floral designs and motifs. I hope you will give them all a try! If you likes this post I am sure you will love this one as well: 12 Watercolor Leaves: Step-by-Step Watercolor Tutorial
