painting butterflies

draw the butterflies

Do a drawing on a separate paper. Then transfer it to the painting support with graphite paper.

Erasures on the painting surface may damage it.

Place masking fluid around the butterflies to keep them white.

I also put some masking on the flowers and leaves in places for highlights.

the painting colors

I used tube watercolors for painting butterflies.

• New Gamboge Yellow
• Phthalocyanine Blue (called Thalo Blue)
  
• Quinacridone Violet
• Dioxazine Purple / Ultramarine Violet
  

I mixed the greens from the blue and yellow and used purple to darken the greens when necessary.

the painting support

Watercolor paintings may be done on watercolor paper, watercolor canvas or Aquabord.

Watercolor painting done on cold-pressed paper are very nice.

However I prefer to use Claybord or Aquabord.

This butterfly painting is done on Aquabord.

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

• I laid 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 from the light source.
  

• This is caused by reflected light.

• Lower in the painting, the colors get darker to help ground the painting.
  

• Use a smaller brush for the tighter areas.
  

• I wanted some violet in the background because the flowers are violet.
  

• It is good to repeat colors throughout the painting to give the painting cohesion.

• Add a bit of yellow in places, to co-ordinate with the leaves.
  

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

• 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.

• Roughly fill in the color, don't try to paint individual petals.

• 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 and leave white spaces for sparkle.

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.

remove the masking

• Before painting butterflies remove the masking from their wings.
  

• We want the butterfly colors to go out and touch the background colors.

• You may use a dry finger or a rubber cement pick-up tool.
  

paint the wing colors

• Mix lavender grey with yellow and red-violet. 
  

• Paint the grey where the bottom wing overlaps the upper wing, on the lower part of the bottom wing and the fore-wing peeking out on the left.
  

• Put yellow on the top outer edges of the wings. The warm yellow brings it forward of the lavender grey wing behind it.

paint the veins

• You may use any small, round brush or even a liner brush for painting butterfly veins.

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

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

Butterflies have three body parts; a head, a thorax and an abdomen.

They have two antennas on their head.

Six legs and four wings are attached to the thorax.

• Use the same color you mixed for the veins. Make it lighter toward the light source.

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

• 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.

•  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.
  

•  And every individual artist will do their paintings in their own manner.