Bright bold colors give this watercolor flower painting the wow factor! We loved making this art project, watercolor painting is always a hit in our house. I love the unique angle of the flower and how each section of the petals and middle are painted with different colors.
Kids love using the wet on wet watercolor technique, it’s super easy and always produces such beautiful and unique results! There are so many fun watercolor techniques for kids to try. Take a look at my collection of watercolor painting for kids for more fun and creative ideas.
Using black oil pastel to create dividing lines in the flowers really makes everything stand out. This technique allows kids to paint one section at a time without worrying that the colors will run into each other.
Create your own watercolor flower painting
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Supplies
- Watercolor paper (we used 11 x 15-inch paper cut down to 11 x 11 inches)
- Watercolor paint
- Paintbrushes
- Water dish
- Black oil pastel
- Painters tape optional
- Wooden board, thick cardboard, or thick corrugated plastic (optional)
Instructions
1. First, get your paper ready. Cut your watercolor paper to 11 x 11 inches. If your paper is a different size, that’s ok, just cut your paper to a square shape.
Tape your paper down to a wooden board, a piece of thick cardboard or corrugated plastic, this helps keep the paper from buckling and also from moving around. Having the paper taped down also makes it easier for kids.
If you don’t have anything to tape the paper down to, taping it to a desk also works. If you tape it down to a desk, you will need to leave the paper taped down until your painting is finished.
Related: Related: Autumn Sunflower Craft with Oil Pastels
2. Have kids draw out their flower in pencil starting in the bottom corner. You want to make the flower large, with the petals filling the space and reaching to the top of the paper.
3. Trace over your drawing with black oil pastel, pressing firmly. You can go over your lines making sure they are thick enough, this helps to keep the colors inside the petals from bleeding over into the next petal.
4. Time to start painting! Work on each section at a time, so one part of a petal or one part of the middle of the flower. Using a clean brush and clean water, paint your section with just water. While the paper is still wet, paint your area with your watercolor paints.
We wanted our colors to be extra bright, so used the colors straight from the paint set without diluting them. Try using 2 – 3 colors in each section and watch how the colors mix and blend together creating beautiful patterns!
After you are finished with one section, move on to the next until your flower is done. Let your flower dry completely before moving on to the background.
5. Choose 1 – 2 colors for the background, we chose 2 shades of blue. Using a clean brush with clean water, paint the background with water, being careful not to get your flower wet. While the paper is still wet, paint the background with your colors.
Let everything dry.
6. Take off the tape slowly and carefully.
I just love how this watercolor flower painting turned out! It’s so bright and colorful and was so fun to paint. Using black oil pastels as a resist technique really turned out well, I’m sure we will use this method again soon.
More flower painting ideas you will love
Cherry Blossom Painting with Cotton Balls
Field of Tulips Painting with Q-tips
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