Painting butterflies

I have been painting butterflies inspired by Jean Haines. I absolutely love her loose free style of watercolor painting. I found that with just a few simple steps you can paint a little butterfly.

Happy Sunday!

Steps to paint a butterfly:

1. Using a liner #2 brush and a black brown mix, add a small round head. Then just below that, add a line of dots for the body getting smaller as you near the bottom.
2. Outline the top of the wing with a deep color and then use a little clean water to smooth it out.
3. Next to the midsection of the body, add paint with the side of your brush and pull it out away from the body. Continue this on both sides and build up the color.
4. Add more color to the head and wings as needed.

Special notes:

• Allow the paint from the body to touch the wet paint of the wings. Remember that the mix and mingle is where the watercolor magic happens. 🙂
• Be careful to not overwork your butterfly, less is more here.

 

It is always fun to play with different shapes and colors. My favorite butterflies here ended up being the ones in the middle where I left part of the wings unpainted. It feels like they are moving across the page. 🦋

 

Trying to put it all together with a little painting of a flower and butterfly.

Butterfly dreams painted on Bee watercolor paper

I hope you enjoyed this little butterfly practice and are inspired to pick up a paint brush and create art. Thank you for stopping by and following along. Until next time, I hope you have a great week and shine on!

Happy Painting!

Patty Anne

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