How to paint a butterfly on a flower

... soft and loose

Aim of the session

In this gentle watercolour project, we’ll paint a loose floral butterfly using soft colour blends and simple, expressive brushstrokes. This piece is all about letting the paint do the work — creating movement, lightness and atmosphere without over-detailing. It’s a relaxing, confidence-building painting that’s perfect for exploring colour, flow and knowing when to stop.

Materials

Watercolour paper, 300gsm cold pressed, A4
Tube watercolours
Cocktail stick
Brushes (medium round + small detail brush)
Black fine liner or black biro
White gouache (optional)
Tissue / kitchen roll
Water pot
Pencil

Handy Hints

Here are my colour combos from my examples below - feel free to experiment with your own. A good idea is to choose two or three colours that are near each other on the colour wheel, that way , your colours will stay vibrant.

For example, if you choose a blue and a pink, when the colours mix you will get a bonus colour - purple

Colour schemes that include complimentary colours, i.e. blue and orange, can look fab. However, you need to wait for the first colour to completely dry before adding it's compliment. When complimentary colours are mixed when wet, they desaturate each other - dulling the painting.

Cerulean blue, indigo, Orange or deep cad yellow & Pink
Yellow, indigo, green & cerulean blue

Purple, pink & blue

Paynes Grey, Rose Madder, Sap Green & Lemon Yellow

Prussian Blue, orange, purple, turquoise

Turquoise, yellow, purple, paynes grey

This loose, expressive watercolour is all about soft colour blends, gentle movement and knowing when to stop. Don’t aim for perfection — freshness and lightness are the goal.

1. Sketch lightly

Use a soft pencil and keep your drawing minimal.
Focus on:
Simple petal shapes
The butterfly wing outline
A gentle curve in the stem
Avoid adding detail — the paint will do the work.

2. Paint the flower petals

Using a watery mix, paint each petal loosely.
While still wet, drop stronger colour at the base of the petals and let it bleed out.
Leave white space and irregular edges for a natural feel.

3. Flower centre

Mix a stronger, slightly creamy paint.
Dab or stipple into the centre while the petals are still damp so it softly blends.
Let this dry before continuing

4. Butterfly wings (key technique)

Paint one wing at a time.
Do not wet the wing first.
Place juicy colour at the base of the wing, then use a clean, damp brush to gently pull the paint outward.
Allow the colour to fade naturally towards the edge.
Use a cocktail stick to add veins
Let each wing dry before moving on to it's neighbour