paintings of flowers are very challenging, but they are such a joy to paint!

If, I’m not doing paintings of flowers, I’m working in the flower garden. That's one reason my college major was horticulture.

Flowers are one of my favorite things, whether I am growing them or painting them.

When I started teaching horticulture I found orchids in the class greenhouses. I quickly became infected with the orchid bug. They are so beautiful and make lovely flower paintings.

Orchids are found in every country of the world. Some of them like the Phalaenopsis have flowers that last for months.

White Flight

When the wild Phalaenopsis orchid was first found in the jungles, they were seen at a distance and the explorers thought that they were a group of white moths flying.

Here are some the "white moths" flying in “White Flight”. Phalaenopsis make beautiful paintings of flowers.

Flower Paintings bring so much joy!

Watercolor flower paintings by Carol May

Azaleas

Springtime is a joyous time of the year with all the flowers blooming.

We had an azalea plant in front of our house that bloomed every spring with white and pink flowers on the same plant.

Here they are recorded forever in “Azaleas”.

Doritenopsis orchid a flower painting by Carol May

Doritaenopsis

"Doritaenopsis" is a cross of a Phalaenopsis with a Doritis orchid which gives the flowers brilliant colors. They are grown the same way as the Phalaenopsis orchids.

Growing and painting flowers is so rewarding.

Since I love flowers so much, I keep working on doing more paintings of flowers. My favorite garden flowers are daisies and roses. Daisies are not so hard to paint. See below

But, roses on the other hand are another scenario. I've been working on painting roses for several years.

more paintings of flowers

Roses and a hummingbird make a wonderful painting combination.

Tropical Beauty

It's nice to add some critters to your paintings of flowers. Roses and hummingbirds are both so pretty. This tropical hummingbird flew into a rose painting, a few years ago.

The rosy-chested "Tropical Beauty" is checking out the coral colored roses.

Joy

Here is one of my latest rose paintings that was such a "Joy" to paint. It was one of those paintings that just flowed. There was no need to labor over it.

Orange is such a happy color and the turquoise vase was a perfect compliment.

You can learn how to paint a rose. Go to the paint a rose page, where I share what I have learned.

Paintings of flowers are so much fun!

A hummingbird checking out a red daylily flower.

Ruby-throat and Daylily

People are not the only ones who enjoy red flowers.

One day when I came home and pulled up in front of my porch. There was a hummingbird feeding from the daylilies.

The throat of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird matched the red daylilies perfectly. The scene cried out to be painted. "Ruby-throat and Daylily"

Bloomin' Basket

Magnolias are "the" flower of the south. They are beautiful with their pristine beauty. When we are doing paintings of flowers we can't leave out this beautiful flower. Their lemony fragrance is heavenly.

Here is a "Bloomin' Basket" full of Magnolia flowers.

Hydrangeas

Learning to paint never ends. There is always more to learn. Here is a painting of "Hydrangeas" from a lesson by Nancy Medina.

Hydrangeas come in pink, blue or white. In this painting the oranges make a nice contrast with the blue Hydrangeas and the white one spark up the painting. Plus, the vase is very interesting.

Scrub Jay on Tulip Magnolia

When my Tulip Magnolia tree was blooming, I went out and sat down on the edge of the front porch and painted it.

It's a beautiful spring blooming tree that some people call a Japanese Magnolia.

Later I came in the house and added the blue Scrub Jay for the "Scrub Jay on Tulip Magnolia".

Birds and flowers are a lovely compliment to each other.

Adding a bird, a bee or a butterfly always makes the paintings of flowers more interesting and gives them a more natural appearance

Gold-top Iris

Paintings of flowers are such a joy to paint. I can hardly wait for spring, so I can go out and enjoy the flowers in person.

Iris are faithful spring blooming flowers. They will grow and faithfully boom every spring. They take practically no care at all, like this "Gold-top Iris".

Hibiscus Freedom

Various water-based paints can work together in the same painting. So it's fun to experiment.

This watercolor and acrylic, mixed media painting "Hibiscus Freedom" shows off the pretty flower colors.

Learn this mixed media painting method

Buckeye Butterfly

The "Buckeye Butterfly" is a dark colored butterfly with its big eye-spots. It is a frequent visitor to many yards.

There were on some of my white daisy Chrysanthemums. They made such a beautiful contrast that I wanted to do this butterfly painting.

Using my photos as reference I painted it with the mixed media method explained in the how-to pages.

This painting is on my favorite watercolor support, Aquabord. After the painting was thoroughly dry it was sprayed with a UV resistant coating that seals the watercolor paint.

Traditional watercolor paintings on paper have to be matted and framed under glass. This painting can be framed without any glass.

It is painted with the freedom of expression we feel when we see butterflies. This one of my favorite paintings of flowers and butterflies!

An oil painting of a giant sunflower by artist Carol May

Son Shine

Daisies are one of my favorite flowers and that includes the giant sunflowers which botanically are daisies. These giant sunflowers grew in my garden one year. They grew fast from seed.

They delight our senses, as well as feed the birds who enjoy harvesting their seeds.

Sunflowers are such happy flowers, like the Son's face shining down on us in "Son Shine".

Daisies ‘n’ Porcelain

Daisies have been one of my favorite flowers ever since I was a child. So naturally, I had to paint some of these happy flowers.

These white daisies are in a porcelain vase on a classic mahogany table. “Daisies ‘n’ Porcelain”.

An oil flower painting of white daisies by artist Carol May

Fresh As a Daisy

Here is another painting of flowers with lovely white daisies in "Fresh as a Daisy".

If you want to do your own daisy painting and learn some about using oil paints, you can. Check out this tutorial of painting these daisies. Each step is explained, so you can do your own flower painting by following the steps.

You can paint your own daisies.