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A guide to painting watercolour snowdrops

Using negative painting and texture techniques

Snowdrop flatlay.jpg
What is Negative Painting?

Negative painting is a watercolour technique where you paint around a subject, rather than painting the subject itself.
In this workshop, we paint the dark background so the white snowdrops are created by the paper.

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Why It’s Good to Learn

  • It helps you see shapes and spaces, not just outlines

  • The white paper gives a fresh, glowing light that paint can’t match

  • It creates strong contrast, making your subject stand out

  • It encourages loose, expressive painting (perfect for watercolour!)

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✨ Trust the paper – it does a lot of the work for you.

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Materials​

Colours (suggested): Cerulean Blue · Indigo · Yellow · White
 

You’ll need:  2 brushes (one paint, one clean damp), cocktail stick, 300 gsm  (cold pressed/NOT pressed) watercolour paper

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1. Sketch

Lightly sketch or trace the snowdrops.
Keep lines very faint.

Snowdrop line drawing.png
2. Mix Colours

  • Light green = yellow + a little cerulean blue

  • Darker green = indigo added
     

3. Paint the Petals

  • Use a very light indigo wash.

  • Paint petal tips and where petals overlap

  • Use a clean damp brush to soften.

  • While wet, scratch gentle curved lines with a cocktail stick on the bottom edges
    Keep everything pale - very pale

snowdrops first steps LR.jpg
Snowdrop shading.jpg

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4. Paint the Stems

  • Paint stems in light green.

  • Add darker green to shadow sides and overlaps.
     

5. Dry Completely
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Snowdrop Painting LR.jpg
6. Paint the Background (Wet-in-Wet)

  • Carefully paint indigo around the flowers.

  • With a wet brush, pull colour outwards.

  • Add cerulean blue and water as you move away.

  • Work slowly and section by section.
     

While wet:

  • Splash water and a little white paint for snow texture
     

7. Finish

  • Add very light indigo washes for snow drifts.

  • Deepen shadows if needed once dry.

  • Splash white paint for snow around the sky area. A tooth brush works surprisingly well for this

  • Add a little indigo to the white and splash this on the snow to indicate falling snow

  • Lift soft light spots with a damp brush.
     

✨ Light washes, gentle layers, less is more.

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