confidently start painting butterflies with this easy watercolor tutorial

Apply masking fluid

Lightly pencil a drawing on the painting surface.

Apply art masking fluid around the butterflies to keep them white.

Use a separate brush for the masking fluid.

Don't use your watercolor brushes for applying the masking fluid. If it stays in the brush very long, it is very hard to get out.

Also, put some masking on the flowers and leaves in places for highlights.

After applying the frisket, wash the brush thoroughly with some dish detergent.

Be ready with your supplies on hand.

Paint the background.

The light in this painting is coming from the top left.

Lay in Thalo Blue with a soft wash brush.

Make the upper left background darker.

The upper background color gets lighter, as you go to the right side of the painting away from the light source.

This is caused by reflected light.

You may add a bit of yellow on the right side for the warmth of the reflected light.

Paint the flowers
before the butterflies

We paint the flowers before the butterflies because their bodies and legs go over the flowers.

Use a small round brush to roughly lay in the flower colors.

Don't try to paint individual petals.

Use the warmer, reddish violet on the left side of the flower which is towards the light.

Use the bluish violet on the bottom and the right side of the flower away from the light.

Let the colors flow together.

Paint extra petals after
removing the masking fluid.

Vary the intensity of the colors by using more or less water.

After the flower color is dry, remove the masking fluid from the flower.

Now paint some individual petals with a small round brush.

Use variations of light and dark violets.

Leave white spaces for sparkle.

There are additional ways to save the white paper.

Paint the green flower parts.

Mix blue and yellow on your palette for your green to paint the calyx, sepals and stems.

Mix the green lighter for the side toward the light (add more yellow).

Mix the green darker for the side away from the light (add more blue).

Notice the calyx color is darker on the bottom side which is shadowed.

Add a tiny bit of blue under the edge of the petals for a shadow.

Paint the leaves with variety

You may want to paint the leaves in more detail.

I saved my detail for the butterflies and the flowers.

Mix dark and light greens the way you did for the green parts of the flowers.

Paint the leaves with a variety of light and dark greens.

The leaves toward the light will have more yellow.

Paint the shadow side of the leaves and stems a darker green, mixed with more blue.

Shade the wings

When you are painting butterflies: Keep in mind that butterflies actually have four wings.

Shade the butterfly's wings before painting the veins.

Mix lavender grey with yellow and red-violet. 

Paint the grey where the wings overlap and where they attach to the body.

Put yellow on the top outer edges of the wings.

The warm yellow brings bottom wing forward of the lavender grey wing behind it.

Paint the veins with a small brush

Mix a black by using the yellow, bluish violet and blue and paint the veins.

You may use any small, round brush or even a liner brush for the veins.

If you make a wiggle-wobble or fat veins, use a damp brush to pick up the extra paint before it dries.

I forgot to shade the wings before painting veins. So after the veins dried, I went back and did the shading.

Paint the butterfly's body

Butterflies have three body parts.

They have a head with two antenna, a thorax with six legs and four wings attached to the thorax and an abdomen.

Lighten the same color you mixed for the veins with a bit more water.

The body will be lighter toward the light source.

The butterfly's legs go out over the flower petals because the butterfly is standing on the flower.

Complete Your Painting

Look around your butterfly painting and see what you might want to touch up.

Values are what really make a painting sparkle!

You may add more darks at this time, if you feel the painting needs it.

Do it whatever suits your taste. You have an artist's license for painting butterflies.

No two paintings will ever look the same. Every painting is an individual.

 Every individual artist will do their paintings in their own manner.

Choose a United States butterfly for your next painting.