Tutorial: How to paint bluebells in watercolour

Bluebells are wonderful woodland flowers, with draping stems and delicate little bell flowers. They’re a sure sign of spring and really cheer me up when the forest floor is covered in their pretty blue blooms.

tutorial how to paint bluebells in watercolor

What you will need

Colours to use

  • Cobalt Blue
  • Prussian Blue
  • Hooker’s Green

Painting bluebell flowers – step by step

  1. Draw a light pencil line arc where the stem will go first.
  2. Mix up a light blue and paint a bell shape. Flick out the edges with small strokes – you can use a small brush for this. Try and make the ends curl up backwards.
  3. Add more bells in different blue tones. Add more Prussian Blue for darkness, or more water for lightness. Vary the direction that they’re hanging so it looks like they’re waving in the breeze, and allow them to touch for wet-on-wet effect.
  4. Add the stem in a green mix. Add smaller, curved stems to join the bells to the main one, to show they’re hanging delicately.
  5. Add long leaves from the base of the stem. Curve them back over towards the ground. Make the paint darker at the base for a shadow.

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