How to Paint Poppies in Watercolor for Beginners

This post is all about how to paint poppies in watercolor. This is a great tutorial for beginners and who want to learn how to paint watercolor flowers.

In this tutorial, I will show you how to watercolor flowers, in particular how to paint poppies in watercolor with step-by-step instructions. These flowers are loose and easy to recreate.

I wrote the step by step instructions below for you to follow. Scroll down to the bottom to see the video tutorial. It took me about an hour to paint this, the video is speed up 6x times.

Supplies

Watercolor Paper: I’m using Canson XL Pads 11 x 15 inches
Watercolor Paints: any will do, I’m using St. Petersburg Nevskaya Palitra
Blushes: big, medium, small and extra small for details
Masking tape
Drawing Board

Step-by-step Instructions

The purpose of this study is to practice painting shapes not lines. Combining abstract shapes makes the artwork interesting. It gives it a painterly feel as opposed to illustration. Prep your paper by taping it with masking tape to the drawing board. The taping will reduce warping of the paper when painting.

1. If you need a reference photo, you can search poppies on pexels.com
2. Lightly mark with a pencil where you want the flowers painted.
3. Pick and premix your red colors. I’m using three colors: a primary red, lighter red, and darker red. The lighter red has yellow, and the darker red has a tint of purple.
4. Use a wet-on-wet watercolor technique. Paint your primary red color and lighter red on the flower edges. Add your darker red where the flowers fold and create depth. Paint darker shade where the color recedes.
5. Take your paper towel and wipe in the center of the flowers. Where we wiped the color, we’ll paint the flower pistils.
6. While the flowers are drying, add the poppies’ green stems and buds. Again, I use three colors: primary green, lighter green (which has yellow) and dark green (which has blue). Add yellow-green where the stems reflect light. Add dark-green where the stems are in shadow.
7. For the flower centers, paint yellow color and a darker yellow-beige for the shadow area.
8. Take a small brush and paint the flower stamens. Instead of black, I premix blue with green and use that color.
9. Add any other details you feel fit to the painting. And, you’re done!

Watercolor Poppies Tutorial (Speed Painting) Video ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial on how to watercolor flowers, specifically how to paint loose poppies in watercolors. Please let me know in the comments below what other watercolor flowers you would like to learn to paint.

– Dasha