Dahlias are gorgeous flowers! Their petal details are stunning and they light up gardens in the autumn. They’re also really common flowers in a bouquet, so a great one to learn if you’re interesting in painting floral pieces or wedding bouquets.
What you will need
- Some watercolour paper
- Watercolour paints
- A round brush, medium size
- Water jars
- Cloth or paper towel
Colours
- Dioxazine Purple
- Opera Rose
- Sap Green
You can actually use any colours you like for this – I recommend at least one dark and one medium watercolour paint.
Painting a dahlia flower – step by step
- Mix up your darkest colour for the centre – for this I’m using the deep purple tone. Use two strokes to make the petal shape, leaving a little white space in the middle. Create the five petals in a star shape.
- Mix up a lighter tone and add another ring of petals, touching the darkest centre ones for wet-on-wet effects. Make the petals a little bigger in this ring. Add touches of your second colour – in this case I’m using pink.
- Add a third ring in even lighter tones, using more water. Again, make the petals bigger and longer. Allow them to touch and bleed together. Add spots of pink and purple.
- Add one final ring with much bigger petals. Make sure you are making these lighter and bigger, leaving rough edges for a realistic effect.
- Add the stem and leaves in a dark green – try adding a little purple to your green. Allow the stem and leaves to touch the wet petals. Make sure to leave white space in some leaves to mimic the petals too.
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