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Painting A Cherry Blossom Branch

Flowers in perspective & creating a final composition

Watercolour cherry blossom branch 1 LR.jpg

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  • Drawing flowers from different angles (front-facing, side view, buds)

  • Keeping things loose, light and flowing

  • Building a balanced final composition
     

Cherry Blossoms are perfect for watercolour – they’re airy, elegant and forgiving. We’re aiming for movement and suggestion, not perfection.
 

Materials​

  • Watercolour paper (cold-pressed)

  • Round brush (size 6–10)

  • Pencil & eraser

  • Water jar & kitchen roll

  • Cocktail stick
     

Colours (suggested)
 

  • Pink / Rose / Opera Pink

  • Crimson or Alizarin Crimson

  • Yellow - warm

  • Sap Green

  • Burnt Umber

  • Paynes Grey

Cherry Blossom Branch pixabay_edited.jpg
Step 1: Observing perspective
 

Before painting, notice how flowers change depending on angle:
 

  • Front-facing flowers
    Open and flat, with petals radiating around a circular centre.

  • Three-quarter / side view
    Petals overlap, the centre becomes an oval or may be hidden.  Petals in the foreground become shorter and wider

  • Buds
    Simple teardrop shapes with a hint of colour at the tip.
     

No blossom is perfectly shaped, the petals can lay at odd angles, the petal edges are irregular and the colours vary slightly depending on where the light hits.  

 

There are so many different types of blossom - so there's sure to be one like yours out there!

Cherry Blossom Sketches LR online.jpg

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Step 2: Painting the petals & buds (first wash)
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  • Very lightly sketch in where you branches will go, just single wonky lines will do

  • Have two brushes handy, one for paint and one damp with clear water (thirsty brush)

  • Mix some pink and yellow into a few puddles of different shades

    • Cherry Blossom petals let the light through, similar to fine tissue paper.  

    • Start pale – you can always add more colour

    • One confident stroke beats lots of small ones

    • If it looks a bit wonky at the drawing stage, you’re doing it right

    • Enjoy the looseness and let the flowers do their thing 
       

  • Paint each petal one by one, vary the colours of the petals very slightly for interest.  

  • We're aiming for the petals to be dark near the flower's centre and lighter as they get to the edge, so drop in some alizarin crimson near the centre of each petal and let it blend out.  

    • before the paint dries, use your cocktail stick to draw curves along the petal to help show the form and represent the stamens

    • Use the thirsty brush, if needed to lighten the end of petals​

Leave white gaps between petals – this keeps the flower light.

 

Make soft, small circle shapes for the buds.  Vary the intensity of the pinks.  Drop olive green** either side of the bud before it dries.  Use a cocktail stick to add petal definition.

 

Let the flowers dry
 

** sap green plus a tiny amount of pink/yellow ochre

Watercolour cherry blossom branch 2 LR.jpg
Step 3: Branch
 

  • Using burnt umber, hold your round brush loosely at the end.  Now paint your branches by varying the pressure on your brush to create, thick to thin stems.  

  • Mix burnt umber with paynes grey and use this to drop in a dark shadow on the underside of the branch.  

  • Before your paint dries, drop in hints of green and pink for interest. The flower  and bud stems in particular, are a lighter colour and can look a deep pink.

  • The stems are bumpy not smooth.  They have brownish/green bumps along the length.  Add these in with some concentrated paint

  • You can bring back highlights on the branch by using a thirsty brush and tissue

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Step 4: Painting the centres & details
 

  • Mix yellow with a tiny touch of crimson to get a yellow-orange colour

  • Tap loosely to make dots on the ends of the stamen you created earlier

  • While damp, add stronger alizarin crimson and specks of burnt umber & Paynes Grey in the centre

  • Stand back and look at your painting - remember less is always more

  • Do you have enough contrast?  throw in some darker pink/crimson if needed

  • Add a few yellow ochre or olive green splashes if you like that look

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"The magic of watercolour is letting the paint move. Don’t try to control everything.”

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If you give this another go, I'd love to see it.  Please tag me on instagram @kerryslackart

Cherry blossom Branch Pixabay 2_edited.j

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