Tutorial: How to paint chilli peppers in watercolour

Supplies you will need

• Watercolour paper
• Watercolour paints
• Favourite watercolour brushes
• Water jars
• Paper towels

Colours to try

• Winsor Red Deep
• Scarlet Lake
• Sap Green

All the watercolour paints I use are from Winsor and Newton’s Professional range, but you don’t need these exact shades. I love to mix different reds together to create rich, three-dimensional colour schemes.

Painting watercolour chilli peppers – step by step

1. First, load up your brush with a red colour and outline your chilli pepper. Aim for a curved shape and pointed tip, with a rounded top.
2. Mark out a small triangle towards the top that you’ll leave clear of paint – this will be your highlight. Fill in your shape with a lighter, watery red, taking care to avoid the highlight.
3. While still wet, add a darker red or other splodges of paint like purples along the right side, opposite to your highlight. This will create a shadow and make your chilli pepper look rounded and 3D. Make the tip darker too.
4. Allow the extra paint to blend out naturally and avoid overworking it with your brush.
5. Clean your brush off well and load up with green. Add a stem by using vertical curved lines, leaving white space between them. Don’t let this touch the chilli pepper or the colours will mix and turn brown and muddy.

Now you can paint a chilli pepper in watercolour! try using different shapes and colours to create different types of chilli and build out a spicy page of chilli goodness!

More fruit and vegetable tutorials

• Avocados
• Carrots
• Cherries
• Mushrooms