Watercolor Painting Tips for a Butterfly Bush

Butterflies are one of the most colorful creatures to paint, and a butterfly bush is a magnet for them.

A butterfly bush is beautiful by itself, but it has the added bonus of being a magnet for both butterflies and bees. A watercolor painting of a butterfly bush should reflect its vibrant nature and dazzling color. Painting a butterfly bush will be easier when adhering to a few, helpful guidelines.

The Beginning of the Painting

Draw the background of the painting roughly, before making a more detailed drawing of the foreground, which should include the butterfly bush. Begin the painting by painting the structure of the butterfly bush, beginning from the ground branches to the highest twigs. When painting the branches and twigs, do so by painting upwards with the brush. The paint should be applied thinly with the outside of the branches and twigs painted first. Use light and shade when painting all the wooded parts of the bush. Once the basic structure of the bush has been painted, then the rest of the bush will be easier to paint.

Make the Butterfly Bush More Prominent

Ideally, the background to the butterfly bush should be more plain, as the whites, pinks and purples of the bush need to stand out in the painting. The background of the painting should lack the detail of the butterfly bush. When painting background flowers use darker shades for them, as this will emphasize the brightness of the flowers on the butterfly bush. The most important aspect of painting the butterfly bush will be to bring out the color of the bush's flowers.

Painting Style

Use short, quick brushstrokes to represent the individual flowers of the butterfly bush. This will give the bush more vibrancy than when attempting to paint individual flowers, which would also take a lot longer to achieve. The paint should be applied fairly thickly, and the flowers should be painted in such a way that they overlap slightly. This will require careful use of light and shade, to avoid the flowers of the butterfly bush resembling one continuous line of color. The flowers should be distinct from each other.

Include Butterflies and Bees

Paint a butterfly bush when it is adorned by butterflies and bees. Because the bush will be full of insects on a nice day, make sure that the bush is painted first before including butterflies and bees in the painting. With insects flitting from part of the bush to the other, draw a sketch of the bush, followed by rapid sketches of the insects on the bush.

Resources

• Red Admiral on Buddleia by Rachel McNaughton