Wet-on-Wet Watercolor Flowers

One thing that watercolor paint loves to do is run together. Instead of fighting that tendency, I showed my students how they can make “puddles” their friend by painting lots of irregular spots, some overlapping, which could later be outlined as delicate little flowers.
1. Spots of varying sizes and colors were painted on watercolor paper. This sample was painted with Crayola Watercolor Mixing set which has a pretty magenta and turquoise their regular set does not. Students needed to work quickly while the paint was still wet so that colors would bleed into each other.
2. As the flowers were drying, green paint was mixed and the leaves were added below. Some simple lines are good, along with solid patches of green. Varying shades were painted randomly to add variety. Let dry for several hours.
3. With a ultra fine point permanent black marker, the students drew edges to all their flowers, along with stems and leaves. They were encouraged to picture the flowers at angles, with the centers facing towards the sky as which is true in real life.