🌸 Watercolour Exercise: Translucent Layered Petal Flowers

Technique: Wet-on-dry
Focus: Slow layering, colour play, simplicity

 

🧰 You’ll Need:

• Watercolour paper

• A water jar

• Watercolours (pan or tube)

• A soft brush (round size 6–10 works well)

• Paper towel

• A black watercolour or  pen for the stem/centre

 

🖌 What Is Wet-on-Dry?

This means painting with wet paint onto dry paper (or dry paint). It gives you neat edges and allows for gentle layering — which is how we get the see-through look of overlapping petals.

 

🎯 What We’re Painting

Simple, petal-like shapes that layer softly over each other, forming dreamy, abstract flowers. They don’t need to be realistic — the focus is on calm, clean colour layers and soft overlaps.

 

🪻 Step-by-Step Instructions
 

1. Set up and choose your colours

Pick a limited colour palette — for example:

• Blue and yellow for one flower.  Remember, you can also mix green from blue and yellow too

• Pinks and blues for another - and pink and blue can make your third colour - Purple

Mix up soft, watery versions of each colour in your palette.
 

2. Paint your first petal

• On dry paper, paint a soft, rounded petal shape. Like a balloon or oval.

• Keep the brush watery but not too wet.

• If you put too much watery paint down,  no need to worry, use a second, clean dry brush to mop up some of the excess

• Let this first petal dry completely before painting the second petal over it (this is important for the layering effect).  You can lay down the first petals for other flowers while it is drying.
   

3. Paint your second petal

• Overlap this one gently with the first.

• Choose a slightly different shade.

• Watch how the shapes stay clean but the colour layers softly where they cross.

• Make sure you don’t spend too long painting the second petal, as it will lift the paint from the 1st petal up and be messy
   

4. Repeat to build up 3 petals

• Each petal is painted one at a time, letting the last one dry fully first.

• Vary the direction and angle — they don’t all have to be even.
   

5. Add the flower centre

• Once your petals are dry, use a dark colour like black or deep purple.

• Paint a little splodge where the petals meet (not too tidy!).
   

6. Add a stem

• Use a smaller brush or a black pen is easier

• Let the line wobble a bit — natural and imperfect is lovely.

 

🧠 Tips for a Calm Painting Session:

• Use a hairdryer to speed up drying if needed, but a tea break works too!

• You can lightly sketch petal shapes first if that helps.

• If one petal goes “wrong” — let it dry, then add another on top.

 

💬 Final Thoughts

This is a soft, slow, mindful painting. It’s about colour, rhythm, and layering. There’s no “right” flower — each one will be unique.

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