Transcripts
1. Introduction: Hello, and welcome to the
quick and easy tutorial, where we will paint a simple
and charming floral pattern. This tutorial is perfect for total beginners who are just starting out
with watercolor. I think the end result
is quite pleasing, and as you'll see, it's
very easy to achieve. Floral design works
wonderfully as a greeting card or a fan
sketchbook exercise. But if you'd like,
you can expand the pattern into a
larger piece and create a beautiful design
that adds warmth and color to your
wall as home decor. You don't need any
special skills. You'll be practicing
basic brush strokes and using the wet
on dry technique. You also don't need any
drawing experience. I'll provide a line
drawing for you to use, but the shapes are
so simple that you can easily create
your own version. Feel free to change the colors, adjust the shapes, and
make it uniquely yours. By the end of this tutorial, you'll have a bright and
cheerful floral pattern full of vibrant colors. So gather your supplies, and let's dive into the magic of watercolor. Happy painting.
2. Project and Resources: I've prepared a selection
of helpful resources for your project available in the projects and
resources section. You'll find a PDF with the
supply list I used for this painting along with an image of my finished
artwork for guidance. Line drawings in
various sizes are also provided so you
can print and transfer them onto your watercolor paper in the size that best
fits your needs. My painting is in an
eight by six inch format. Additionally, there are
working progress photos to help you follow the process
and focus on specific areas. Feel free to explore
these materials and use them to create your own
unique and beautiful design. Please share your
final painting in the projects and
resources section. I also encourage you
to take time to view each other's work in the
student project gallery. It's always inspiring to
see what others create and the support of your
fellow students can be incredibly comforting. Don't forget to like and
comment on each other's work. Lastly, I highly,
highly recommend watching each lesson
before you begin painting. This will give you a
clear understanding of what to expect at each
stage of the tutorial. If you find this class helpful, I would greatly
appreciate it if you could leave an honest review. Your feedback will help me
improve my content and assist other students in
deciding whether to join this class.
Thank you in advance.
3. Exercise: Before we begin the
actual painting, I would like you to warm
up a little by practicing some very simple shapes that we'll be using
in this project. For this exercise, I'll be using a size eight brush and Windsor and Newton
watercolor paper. This paper is only 25% cotton, and I'm using it to show
you why I never paint on anything other than
100% cotton paper. It also has a distinct texture
that I'm not a fan of, but for practice
purposes, it's fine. Before I start painting, I always spray my paints
with clean water. This softens them and
makes it easier to lift the paint from the
well into the mixing area. Now, I'll dip the
brush in water, pick up some color, and
transfer it to the mixing area. I always do this so I can check the consistency of the
paint and its tunnel value. Steering the paint
on the palette also helps me to see what
color I'm working with. Pick up some ultramarine blue, and using just the
tip of your brush, paint a simple line that
will serve as a stem. Then add simple leaf shapes
on either side of the stem. But before we go further, I want to pause and
explain a few things. First, this exercise is great for practicing
brush control. A gentle, steady
brush stroke with just the tip of your brush
creates a fine line. Try to maintain even pressure to achieve a
consistent line width. Leaves, however, are
a bit different. You start with a gentle touch using the tip of
your brush and then apply more pressure so the belly of the bristles
creates a thicker stroke. Finish by slowly lifting
the brush to form a sharp tapered tip at
the end of the leaf. We'll be practicing
this shape a lot. Now, I would like to draw your attention to
something else. Notice that almost immediately after applying the
paint, a bloom appeared. The general reason for
this is uneven drying. The area near the stem
dried faster than the tip of the leaf where
more watery paint remained. That watery paint
pushed the pigment into the already drying area
causing the bloom. Another important reason this happened is due to the
quality of the paper. Papers that aren't 100% cotton typically have inferior sizing. Sizing helps the paint sit on the surface longer
and dry more evenly, preventing it from soaking
too quickly into the fibers. This results in smoother
washes and fewer blooms. I will show you the
difference using 100% cotton paper
in just a moment. Let's practice those
leaf shapes a bit more. I'm adding a bit of
Windsor green to the ultramarine blue to
introduce some color variation. This is just a simple
exercise to help you develop a steady hand and
get used to applying paint. Try outlining the shape of the leaf and then quickly
filling in the center. Paint leaves at
different angles to find what feels most
comfortable for your hand. We can also practice
painting lines straight or wavy while trying to
maintain an even thickness. Rotate your paper to find the angle that
works best for you. Personally, I prefer
painting these lines from left to right
or bottom to top. That's when my hand
feels most steady. I'm switching to a mix of burnt sienna and
quinacridone red. This time, let's practice
larger tear drop shapes. Imagine they are flower petals. I will also add some Windsor yellow deep to introduce
a warmer color. Notice how tonal value changes. More pigment and
less water give you a darker tone while more water
produces a lighter tone. Always remember that paint dries lighter than
it looks when wet. When painting a red petal, try dropping in some
Windsor yellow deep or any yellow you have
onto the wet red paint. Watch how the paint behaves. Yellow tends to push
other pigments away. This technique of
dropping one color or a more concentrated version of the same color into wet
paint is called charging. It's a powerful technique
for creating soft, beautiful color transitions if the paint remains evenly wet. If the surface starts
to dry and you introduce a more watery mix
you're likely to get blooms. I encourage you to fill your practice page
with petal shapes, leaf shapes, stems, and lines. This is a very basic warmup. It doesn't have to look perfect. The goal is to get your
hand moving and to become familiar with
how your brush behaves. I also like to fill in some of the empty spaces with dots to make the page
look a bit more dynamic. Now, here I have
a small piece of arches 100% cotton paper. Compared to the Windsor Newton, 25% cotton paper,
it's very different. It has a creamier color and a softer texture,
which I really enjoy. This is cold pressed paper, so the texture is medium, not smooth, but
not overly rough. Watch how evenly the paint
flows on this paper. It stays on the surface longer thanks to the higher
quality sizing, which gives me
more time to work, mix colors directly
on the paper, and create smooth gradients. Blooms are less likely
to appear here. Even when I deliberately drop in pure water
to create a bloom, the effect is
usually much softer. Unless the paint has already
dried significantly, then the difference in moisture levels will
still create a bloom. General, I hope you
can see how much better the paint behaves
on 100% cotton paper. It allows for more control, smoother colored transitions,
and more even washes.
4. Petals: Here I have a sketch that
measures eight by 6 ". Before painting, I often like
to use a kneaded eraser, a soft moldable eraser
that I can shape into a roll and gently roll
over my pencil sketch. This helps remove
excess graphite and lightens the
lines just a bit. Let's begin painting
the flowers. I'll be using two colors, Quin AccredonRd and
Windsor yellow deep, but feel free to use
any colors you like. I'm using a size eight
brush for this step. Using the wet and dry technique, we will fill in all
the flower shapes with these two colors. We're not working from
a reference photo here. This is a simple
stylized illustration rather than a realistic
flower study. As you paint each petal, try to maintain consistent
paint consistency. This will help you achieve
smooth even color. While the paint is still wet, feel free to drop in a darker
or more saturated version of the same color or the second color to add
depth and variation. I don't have a strict plan for which flower should
be red or yellow. I just know I want the
flowers to be red and yellow, and I will use blue, green, and violet tones for
the leaves later. Remember that your
paints tonal value depends on its consistency. A thicker mixture will result in a more saturated,
darker tone, while a more diluted mixture will give you a lighter tone, adjust as needed, depending
on the effect you want. Don't worry about staying perfectly within
the pencil lines. In fact, you can even skip the pencil sketch
entirely if you prefer. These petal shapes are
very simple and placing them randomly can still result in a beautiful
composition. That's part of the charm of
illustrations like this. As you paint, this is
also a great chance to observe a fundamental
concept from color theory. The particular yellow and red I'm using create a very clean, vibrant orange, and that's because quinacridone
red is a warm red, leaning toward yellow, and Windsor Yellow deep
is a warm yellow, leaning toward red, since they both lean toward each
other on the color wheel, they combine into
a bright orange. If I had used a color yellow like Windsor yellow
or lemon yellow, which lean more
toward green or blue, the resulting orange would
be duller and less vibrant. Once you've finished filling in the flour shapes,
let everything dry. You can use a hair dryer
to speed things up. Just be sure to let the paper cool down before you
start painting again. Painting on warm paper
causes the paint to dry too fast and can make blending
more difficult. H
5. Shadows and Stamens: Once the first layer
of paint is completely dry and the paper has
returned to room temperature, we can start adding
a few details. In this step, we will paint some simple shadows
and the stamens. Let's begin by picking
up quinacridone red again and using it on
one of the red flowers. We're going to add
a few fine lines radiating from the center. Tse could suggest subtle veins or gentle wrinkles
in the petals. Notice that I'm using the same color and the same
consistency as before. The reason it appears darker is because it's a second layer. In watercolor, layering
the same color creates a darker tone without needing to mix in anything deeper
if there is no need. This is a great way to build value while keeping
the colors clean. Now, let's do the same
with the yellow petals. Using Windsor yellow deep, apply another layer
in a few areas, very simple shapes to introduce a slightly darker value and bring a little more
dimension to the petals. You can also create the
impression of depth by suggesting that one petal
is in front of another. For example, take some red paint and look at a larger petal. If you want it to appear
raised and in front, paint a shadow on
either the right side, the left side, or both. This creates the illusion
that the petal is casting a shadow over
the ones behind it. Just remember, this is a very simple painting and it doesn't need
to look perfect. The goal here is to practice basic watercolor concepts while enjoying the process of creating a fun and beautiful
little design. Once you've added these shadows, set everything aside to dry. In the meantime, we'll mix a darker tone to
paint the stamens. To do this mix quinacradon
red, Windsor yellow deep, and ultramarine blue, three primary colors to get
a deep dark purplish tone. Switch to a smaller brush like a size four for
this detailed work. Load your brush with the
dark color and paint a few fine lines coming out
from the flower centers. Then add dots at the end of
those lines and between them. If you prefer, we can also
simplify the centers even further by painting just
the dots, no lines at all. Remember, this isn't
meant to be realistic. We are simply practicing
brush control and paint application in a
playful, expressive way. When you're done, dry
everything with a hair dryer, and then we will move
on to the final step, which will really bring
this design to life.
6. Leaves: Now that the flowers
are completely dry, we can fill the empty spaces between them with
colorful leaves. I'm planning to use ultramarine
blue as my main color, but I also want to shift it
towards green in some areas. To do this, I might add
a bit of Windsor green to the blue or even green
gold to warm it up a little. I will also introduce
some purple, which I will mix from ultramarine blue and
quinacradon magenta. Purple pairs beautifully
with green and blue, and it's also a complimentary
color to yellow. So this color palette should create a nice vibrant contrast. To vary the tonal values, I will also mix
ultramarine blue with a bit of paints gray for
a darker cooler tone. This will help create depth
and variety in the painting. I will start with
the turquoise mix for the leaf in the corner. Then I'll switch to
ultramarine blue and paint the first stem using those simple leaf shapes
we practiced earlier. To keep things interesting, I'm going to create some
gradients within the leaves, blending between blue,
green and purple. For the second twig, I'll begin with a purple leaf, then shift to green and allow the colors to gently
blend on the paper. Remember, we can vary not only the color but
also the tonal value. Some leaves can be
lighter, some darker. You can even paint overlapping leaves with the lighter tones in the background and the darker tones on
top to suggest depth. And why not let some
leaves overlap the petals? The transparent nature of watercolor will
allow the colors to show through each other and create that beautiful
layered effect. When it comes to the
stems and the leaves, it's usually easier to
begin with the stem. It gives you a central line that you can curve
however you like, and then you can
attach leaves to it. Starting with the
leaves first can make the shape a bit
harder to manage. Here I also decided to add a little yellow orange
flower at the end of the stem to bring in
some more warmth. I'm using darker
tones on some of the leaves to give them
more dimension and weight. Already, it's starting to
come together beautifully. The flowers alone looked
a bit bare and flat, but once we added these
contrasting cool colors, the painting became much
more vibrant and energetic. Of course, feel free to experiment with your own
colors and compositions. This is just one example, a simple practice piece to
explore techniques and ideas. Notice the lovely effect when I overlap a leaf over a petal. That's the magic of
watercolor transparency, one of the most charming
aspects of this medium. Continue filling in the
spaces with the leaves. You can try staying within your pencil lines to practice
precision or paint more freely allowing the
leaves to take on natural organic shapes
with irregular edges. Every choice you make adds to your personal style and
creative expression. And now we've finished our
simple floral pattern design. Carefully remove
the masking tape to reveal those clean,
crisp borders. It could make a
beautiful greeting card or a lovely decoration
for your wall. In the final step,
we'll summarize everything we've learned
in this tutorial.
7. Summary: Thank you so much
for joining me in this simple floral pattern
watercolor tutorial. I hope you had fun and
feel inspired to create your own version of this
cheerful little painting. Let's take a moment to review what we've learned
throughout this project. We broke the painting down into clear manageable steps from sketching the basic shapes to layering colors and
adding final details. This made the whole process easy to follow even for beginners. We explored how to build
depth and tunnel value using the same color in
multiple layers rather than switching
to a darker pigment. This helped us create dimension in a simple,
controlled way. We added small details like subtle shadows
and statements, showing how a few
carefully placed lines and dots can bring life and character to a painting without making it
overly complicated. We played with a limited
but vibrant color palette, mixing greens, blues
and purples to complement the flowers
and add visual interest. We also saw how layering
transparent colors can create beautiful
overlapping effects. I hope this tutorial has helped
you build confidence with basic watercolor techniques
while encouraging you to explore your own color
choices and compositions. Thanks again for
painting with me. Keep creating, stay curious, and most of all, have fun. See you next time.
Thank you, bye.
Krzysztof Kowalski, Watercolor artist
