Whimsical Watercolor Flowers is a beginner-friendly tutorial that is a joyful and expressive way to explore your creativity. Through simple mark-making and painting, this beginner's watercolor tutorial is an easy introduction to watercolor painting techniques. The playful nature of the flower makes it perfect for beginners. In this tutorial, I’ll guide you step by step to create your very own whimsical floral masterpiece—no prior experience is required!
Materials You’ll Need:
Watercolor paper (140 lb. cold-pressed recommended)
Watercolor paints (choose bright, cheerful colors)
Paintbrushes (round brushes in sizes 3 and 10 work well)
Water jar (for rinsing brushes)
Paper towel (for blotting brushes)
Pencil and eraser (optional, for sketching)
Drawing pen (Waterproof-size 05 or 08)
Paint pens
Light tack tape
Believe it or not, we will be using only the 3 simple shapes above to draw and decorate our Whimsical Watercolor Flower. It doesn't get much easier then that! So, if you had some hesitation coming into this tutorial, rest assure that it truly is simple and fun.
Before beginning, I taped my watercolor paper down with Washi tape. This helps keep the paper flat when it gets wet. You can use any light tack tape, just make sure it doesn't rip the paper.
We are going to begin by drawing 3 circles. Please notice a few things about my circles above: First, they are not perfectly round-and that is okay. The imperfect shapes help give the flower its whimsical look. Second, I drew a bit off to the side of my paper. This is because I wanted the painting as a whole to look a little more interesting. Third, draw lightly. These are just guide lines for where you will paint. My lines are darker so you are able to see them for this tutorial.
After you draw the circles, draw the petals using a simple arch or U shape around the last circle. You will see above that my petals are kind of chunky. You can make yours the same way, or you can try long, thin arches, or many more petals of smaller arches. Be creative and don't be afraid to experiment. This is why it is better to draw in very light lines-it makes it much easier to erase what you don't like!
Notice the petals I created here are made up of 2 arches. Experiment with making multiple arches in your petals, or adding more circles to the inner disc before you start painting.
When you have finished drawing, choose a few bright-colored watercolor paints that make you feel happy and playful. Use these colors to paint in the circles and petals of your flowers. I used a number 10 brush here to fill in the drawing with watercolor paint. In the large areas, I painted using the side of my brush because it gave me a wider area to push my paint with. In smaller areas, I use the tip of my brush. It isn't until I get into the details and outlining that I pick up a smaller brush.
Wait for your watercolors to dry before going on to the next layers. Paint markers or drawing markers on top of wet paint mess with the texture of the paper, and won't give you smooth lines. A little trick I like to use to dry my paint fast so I can get right onto the next layer is a hair dryer. Yup. Dries the paint super quick, so you can keep on creating without waiting! I keep an old hair dryer close by in my studio at all times.
Once your watercolor paint is dry you can make patterns with very simple marks on top of your flower. Here I just used dots, dashes, and lines with paint markers in contrasting colors and waterproof drawing markers. If you use paint markers, just be sure to dot it on a piece of scrap paper before using it on your artwork. Some markers tend to blob out. I prefer the Sharpie or Posca markers. I find them to give out consistent amounts of paint with high-quality pigment.
Finish off your flower with some jumbo leaves, balancing off the painting with the flower on one side and the leaves on another. Here again, I used a paint marker in a lighter shade of green to add the details to the leaf.
And here is our finished whimsical watercolor flower, bright, cheery, and playful!
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and you make some time to create your own whimsical watercolor flowers. Keep painting flowers using different sizes, shapes, and colors, add them to a bouquet, or paint them in a vase. Have fun, stay playful and don't be afraid to experiment.
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