Today we went for a walk along the road outside our property and saw that June had arrived in the shape of a little cloud of poppies!
Couldn’t resist taking a photo or two, and my iPhone 13 did an amazing job of making them look like a work of art! Of course I couldn’t resist making them the next painting tutorial!
How to Paint Loose Watercolor Poppies
There are so many ways to paint poppies, which are possibly the most frequently painted flower out there. Second perhaps to roses, but when you think about how many times Monet painted poppy fields, and how many different versions you’ve seen over the years, I think poppies are probably the winner.
Paintings of poppies range from the absolute photo-realist version with every molecule carefully painted into place, all the way down to childish red scribbles which, despite their juvenile aspect, do convey something of the playfulness of these very ephemeral flowers.
I try to sit somewhere in the middle region of the panoply of possible styles, with my loose, impressionistic, sketchy paintings which I’ve been developing for the last couple of decades.
This video shows how in 20 short minutes you can paint a rendition of poppies which would make a sweet gift for a poppy lover, a pretty phone wallpaper or a lovely greetings card. Let’s take a look at the materials you will need to get started. You’ll find the free YouTube video link at the bottom of the page and the free sketch download here:
Materials
Clairefontaine Etival Paper: https://amzn.to/3DacXzg
ZenArt Brush Set: https://shop.zenartsupplies.co/?ref=OexsWLBNCDPVBE
Staedtler Karat Aquarel Black Watercolor Pencil: https://amzn.to/2Ym4Q33
Winsor and Newton Professional Watercolors: https://tinyurl.com/mr47k77j
- Cadmium Red https://tinyurl.com/xtvupcu8
- Olive Green https://tinyurl.com/pskenpvk
- Ivory Black: https://tinyurl.com/2p8eb85w
- Quinacridone Gold: https://tinyurl.com/38ev8xn7
How to Paint the Poppies
This video shows how in 20 short minutes you can paint a rendition of poppies which would make a sweet gift for a poppy lover, a pretty phone wallpaper or a lovely greetings card. Let’s take a look at the materials you will need to get started. You’ll find the free YouTube video link at the bottom of the page and the free sketch download here:
Here is a link to a YouTube playlist of 17 poppy paintings you might like to try:
And here is a link to a YouTube playlist of my favorite studio techniques.