In this watercolor tutorial, I’m going to walk through how to draw and paint bluebonnets. Bluebonnets are everywhere where I live in Texas and I’m so excited to teach you how to paint them in the tutorial below!

If you want to learn more about how to draw bluebonnets, check out this blog tutorial where I walk through how to draw them step-by-step.

Get comfy, grab your watercolor supplies, and let’s dive in!

Supplies

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Sketching Supplies

We’re going to start things off with learning how to draw a bluebonnet, so you’ll want a pencil and sketchbook paper for that portion. No worries if you don’t have anything fancy. Even printer paper will do the trick!

Watercolor Paper

I prefer a high-quality watercolor paper when I paint, like Arches 140lb 100% cotton paper. But you can use any watercolor paper that you have on hand.

Watercolor Paint

I’ll be using different shades of blue and green for this tutorial. My preferred paint brand is QoR, but any brand of paint will work for this loose bluebonnet tutorial!

Round Brushes

This tutorial will work best with round watercolor brushes in a medium size. My favorite are the Princeton Heritage brushes. I think a size 4 or 6 would work really well for this tutorial.

Step 1: Draw Guidelines (If you want them)

When painting loose florals, we often paint freehand. If you need a little extra help, you can draw in light guidelines to help you place the elements of the flower. I break down how to do this in a separate tutorial about drawing bluebonnets.

You’ll notice that you can barely see my guidelines in this example. That’s intentional! When you paint over a pencil mark, it’s usually impossible to erase. And since watercolor is a transparent medium, there’s more of a chance that dark pencil marks will show through the final painting. I try to keep any guidelines I draw as light as possible.

I drew an oval to indicate where to place the blooms and a line through it to mark the bluebonnet stem.

Step 2: Paint the Petals (wet in wet technique)

Next, we’re going to paint the blooms! The beauty of painting in a loose style is that we’re not going for a hyper-realistic look. For this bluebonnet, you can paint blobs that loosely resemble the shape of the petals we drew in the earlier step. 

Make sure to leave white space between each one. This will allow the viewer to see that it’s a three-dimensional flower without us needing to be ultra-detailed or realistic. 

Start with just water on your brush and paint a few petal shapes. Then drop in some blue pigment and watch it bloom in the areas where you painted with water. This is called the wet in wet technique!

Note: The exact blue you use doesn’t matter much. I used a variety of blues for this painting to give it some variation and interest. 

Repeat  this step to build  out the rest of the bluebonnet shape. Remember to keep white space between the blooms. It will also help to make some petals darker and some lighter. This gives the illusion of depth and will elevate your loose painting. 

Step 3: Add in the stem and leaves

What will really make this come together is to start adding the stem and leaves! I started by painting a thin green stem down the center. I painted it while my bluebonnet petals were still wet which caused some bleeding, but for this style, I like the look of it!

Next, add some stems connecting the petals to the center stem.

Then take some green paint and use the brush to stamp a cluster of green shapes at the top of the flower. 

Lastly, paint the leaves! Remember, these are multi-pronged, star-shaped leaves. You can always refer to the drawing tutorial to help paint them accurately.

My favorite technique for making leaves is to use the belly of a round brush to help me create the arced leaf shape. In this example, I’m starting with light pressure, then pressing to heavy pressure, then coming back to light pressure at the end for the tip of the leaf. Repeat that process to finish the other half of the leaf. 

Step 4: Detail and Contrast

Lastly, it’s time for a little detail! This will make your loose bluebonnet painting truly pop. Wait until your petals are mostly dry and then start adding in some extra petals and darker blues. This will give the illusion that some of the petals are behind the ones in the front. 

This small extra step will make all the difference in how your finished piece turns out!

And there you have it! A beautiful loose bluebonnet!

I hope you enjoyed this Bluebonnet tutorial! If you want to learn the watercolor fundamentals that will take your art to the next level, check out my free watercolor guide below!