How to Paint a Hibiscus in Watercolor
Watercolor is one of the more challenging mediums of painting, made difficult by the unpredictable patterns of flowing, soaking water. Part of creating successful watercolor paintings is a good choice of subject matter. Hibiscus flowers have soft colors and a wavy shape that makes them an ideal inspiration for a beginning or upper-level watercolor painting. Create your hibiscus flower painting by applying color in carefully organized layers of shapes.
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Things You'll Need
- Watercolor paints
- Paintbrushes
- Paper
- Paint palette
- Detail brush
- Fine-tipped brush
Instructions
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Mix a large quantity of pink paint at a strong concentration. How much you'll need depends on the size of paper you use and how dark you want the painting to be, so if you're not sure how much it'll take, err on the side of too much. When applied to scrap paper, the pink should be dark enough to be fully opaque. This will be used for the darkest parts of the hibiscus flower.
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Pull some of the pink paint aside on your palette and dilute it to make a pale shade of the same color. This will be used for the soft shades of the flower's petals.
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Paint the petals to form the outline shape of the hibiscus flower using the pale pink paint and a wide brush. Make five equal, semi-round petals in a starlike configuration. Overlap the petals slightly; achieve this affect by waiting about 10 seconds between painting each petal, letting the watercolor application dry each time.
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Mix a little of the deep-pink paint with the diluted paint, making a color in between those two shades.
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Paint the stamen with the in-between pink color using a detail brush. Make a straight line extending from the center of the flower in any direction, reaching just to the edge of the petals. Pepper the tip of the stamen with a cluster of dots to represent the pollen area.
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Color the center of the flower with dark pink paint, making a small circle around the base of the stamen.
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Color the area around the outside of the flower with green paint to suggest a leafy backdrop. For best results, carefully outline the flower in green using a mostly dry, fine-tipped brush, then follow up with a larger brush to cover the rest of the area.
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References
- Photo Credit watercolor palettes and brush image by egal from Fotolia.com
