I have never met anyone who doesn’t like to paint roses! What beauty this lovely flower beholds! If painting realistic watercolor rose was on your painting wish list, then you can tick it off today! In this post I will take you through 7 easy steps that will help you paint a realistic watercolor rosebud.

“Of all flowers, methinks a rose is best.”

– William Shakespeare

Materials and Techniques

• Materials: Professional Artist Grade Watercolors, No 8 Round Brush, No 4 or No. 3 Round Brush, Mixing Palatte, 2 Jars of Water, Tissue, 100% Cotton Watercolor paper – Cold Pressed

• Techniques- We will be using both Wet on Wet and Wet on Dry techniques and Detailing

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6 Secrets to Painting Realistic Watercolor Flowers

Whether you are painting roses or any other realistic Flowers, here are the 6 Secrets that you should know,

1. Choose the right materials- Don’t settle for cheap materials! Although right techniques are more important than this but right materials can make a big difference in your outcome. Good quality paper, brushes with good tip, vibrant transparent colors will make it look more realistic.

2. Understand your reference – Observe the colors, shape, proportion, layers, details etc. with a lot of attention this will make the task easy for you. Take time to study all these by paying attention to all the details.

3. Always sketch very lightly – This is very important as watercolors are transparent in nature and the visible pencil marks will ruin the beauty of your painting.

4. Use the right techniques – Get your techniques right, WOW, WOD, Dry brush. blending etc. , So you know what to use where

5. Don’t over do – With practice you will know more clearly which technique to use when and this will help you paint better

6. Have patience! – Art in general requires patience, but with realistic paintings this virtue is a must and is very important!

    

How to Paint Realistic Watercolor Rosebud: 7 Easy Steps You Need to Know

Step 1 – Reference

• Real life reference – Simply choose real rose flower, this would be easier if you are painting for a while. If you are a complete beginner than avoid using this as it wont be very easy to do. Also this will be time bound as you must finish before the rose withers!

• Picture from internet- If you intent to use the painting ONLY for personal use, that means not even sharing it in part on any social channel, just go for it! Use whatever you like! This is great option! But if that’s not the case you should be very careful when doing this, if it is out there on the net does NOT mean its free to use however you like, even the photos on Wikipedia might have certain rights, so always read the usage rights thoroughly and carefully without fail.

• Using the Painting of another artist- Copying another is anyways a no no! This is ethically wrong and can be very disrespectful to the Artist. This is the least recommended even if you are doing this strictly for personal use, copying can never be justified. This has many cons, if you aspire to be a realistic artist then this method will hinder that in a big way as the very essence will be lost ,and also you will just be copying (including their mistakes) instead of using your own creativity and effort.

• Your own reference- This is the best way! No copyright issues, easier to paint than real life, if you have multiple angles you have more scope to learn. No hurry to paint! You don’t have to be a professional photographer to collect your own references, just a smart phone and little creativity is enough. These days so many amazing editing tools are available and you can easily use that to enhance your pictures and give them a professional touch. And this is what we will be using in this tutorial.

Step 2 – Sketching

Although Sketching is optional with watercolors, with this it will really be helpful, all you have to do is sketch very lightly the main outline. Turn the photo into black and white version, reduce increase contrast, shadows, brightness etc. till you feel that it is easy to to sketch.

If sketching is not your thing then just go ahead and trace, there is nothing wrong with it. You can use tracing paper, butter paper, light box, print and trace using a window etc.

Another one is Grid method and this is very accurate and beginner friendly too. You will never go out of proportion with this! If tracing is something you don’t like then this is the best way. This is my favorite too, saves times, give the assurance that you drew it and it is time and effort saving!

Step 3 – Selecting the Colors

Choose your color palette as per the picture, but since you are an artist you have the liberty to choose your own tones! Always swatch the colors, only mix you own colors if you are familiar with color theory and can do this effortlessly. You can also check this FREE Color Theory guide HERE for a basic intro.

You can grab the Color set HERE.

Step 4 – Painting the Petals

Once sketching is done, lighten your sketch a much as you can as watercolors are transparent and we don’t want any see through pencil marks,. You are now ready to add Paint!

• We will be using wet on wet

• First layer the petal base color and spread it all through

• Next add the second color while it is still wet, start with dropping and the color let it spread on its own beautifully

• Next blend to mix

• While still wet , lift color to make the light, refer to the reference picture

• Pick up any extra color using the brush and wiping in the tissue

• Other details will be done later

• Complete all the petals in the same way

Step 5 – Painting the Sepal

Once you are done with the petals, move on to the sepal.

• Again we will use wet on wet

• Start with a layer of watery yellow

• Then add the green and let it spread

• Next add darker tones referring to the picture

• Details will be added in the end

Step 6 – Painting the Stem

Next we will move on to painting leaves,

• Again we will use wet on wet

• Start with a layer of watery yellow

• Add the green

• Next add darker tones referring as per the the picture

• Details will be added in the end

Step 7 – Detailing & Finishing Touches

Lastly the final touches like, veins of the leaves, dots or fine lines on the rosebud.

• We will use wet on dry for detailing

• Add lines to the petal

• Add finer points to the sepal

• Add dots and dark lines to the sepal

• Add deep pink to highlight the rose bud

So that’s about it! If you break it down in simple steps it becomes really easy to do!

Do share your version with me, I would love to see it and share on my social channels, you can tag me @bytheartbug!If you prefer Video you can check it out here on my YT Channel,

Until next time,