A leaf is a great shape to paint while practicing watercoloring. Get creative with these simple and colorful Watercolor Leaves Videos today!
Make sure to check out my previous Tutorials!: Leaf drawing step-by-step tutorial, How to Draw a Maple Leaf with Markers, Watercolor Flowers Tutorial, and Watercolor Tree Tutorial
If you love drawing and painting, like I do here are a few more to try- Pumpkin Drawing Easy, 6 Easy Painted Pumpkin Ideas , and Color Mixing Chart. All of these are easy to recreate tutorials and I hope you enjoy them!
How to Paint colorful Watercolor leaves: 7 Video Tutorials
I love filling a whole sketchbook page with simple watercolor leaves. This is an easy exercise and I love watching the watercolors meet and do their thing.
How Do You Paint Watercolor Leaves For Beginners?
Beginner Watercolor leaves Video: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cx5p0O1LXJK/
To paint these beginner watercolor leaves you can use any watercolor cake you have- yes, even your kid’s paint will work! If you need help to start, here is a list of the Best Watercolor Supplies for Beginners
- Using your paintbrush, draw a leaf outline shape.
- Fill this shape with color and just a little bit of water
- Next add a touch of another color towards one end of the leaf shape
- Blend the color slightly to achieve a gradient color.
Rainbow Watercolor Leaves
These Rainbow Watercolor Leaves are SO much fun to paint! There is something so satisfying when you create rainbow art.
- Using Watercolor Markers apply a two different colors per leaf as seen below.
- Using a Water brush, add a little water to each leaf shape, blend the colors slightly, and create a pointy tip for each leaf. Avoid over-mixing the colors
- Repeat this with different colors. To create texture, sprinkle salt onto the wet leaves. I explain this in detail here- Watercolor Salt Technique
- Let the paint dry, and rub off the salt with your fingertips. This gives a mottled look and enhances the watercoloring!
Simple Watercolor Leaves
Simple Watercolor Leaves Video: https://youtu.be/xQkDG0Hb3Yg?si=gcvRtgb4z2wKYDJ5
These Simple Watercolor Leaves are rustic and look great on DIY Place cards!
- Using Watercolor markers, draw a curvy stalk, and add dabs of color on either side to form leaf shapes
- Add a touch of contrasting color to the last leaf
- Using a paintbrush and little water paint over each color dab and form into leaf shapes
- Go over the stalk with the damp paintbrush and join all the leaf shapes.
Watercolor Autumn Leaves Tutorial
Fall Watercolor Leaf Painting Video: https://youtu.be/0QT_4y5HvgY
Capturing Autumn leaves on paper is so much fun! Feel free to use these 20+ Fall leaves images as a reference for your art.
- Using Watercolor Markers draw the outline shape of the autumn leaf
- Using 2 to 4 colors quickly adds more colors and details to the leaf
- Add a few spots of orange here and there
- Using a large paintbrush and little water, slowly blend the colors. Use a little water, and let the colors blend but not get watery and run into each other
How Do You Paint Leaves In Watercolor?
Quick Watercolor Leaves Video: https://youtu.be/ICoHBI-DmXI
These quick watercolor leaves are super easy to paint and I like to call them triangle leaves- because that is how I draw them.
- Using the tip of the Dual Brush Pen, draw triangle shapes in a wavy pattern. Think of these as leaves on a stem going from larger to small
- Dip your paintbrush in water and then paint over your triangle, dragging the water with the tip of your brush to form a leaf shape
- Repeat this with other colors
- Let the leaves dry a bit and then add another layer on top to create a fuller effect.
How Do You Make Watercolor Leaf Prints?
Leaf Stamping Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUplp-5WUTs
Creating watercolor leaf prints could not be simpler!
- Apply your watercolor or marker onto the leaf directly
- Spread the color or mix colors directly on the leaf itself
- Flip the leaf, and press it onto the paper to create a leaf impression
- Using your paintbrush gently trace the leaf shape to define it better if needed.
How do you paint leaves easily?
Easy Leaf Painting Video: https://youtu.be/lPgxM78L5lg
These watercolor leaves are so colorful and the easiest to paint. I use the 3 Easy Wet on Wet Watercoloring by Dropping Colors method and basically, the water does all the work!
I also added a thin black pen outline to my leaves here- I love how those thin lines define the leaf shape and add a whimsical touch to the page. If you are wondering which pen to use for water coloring- I explain in detail here How to use Watercolor and Pen together
- Lightly draw leaf shapes with a pencil if needed. Using a paintbrush, paint the leaf shape with water only
- Drop in a little bit of green paint towards the bottom of the leaf shape
- Drop another contrasting color at the tip of the leaf. Add a few more colors if desired
- Using the paintbrush gently nudge the colors till they just meet. Let the water do the rest of the color mixing as it dries
Watercolor Leaves Videos:
Enjoy this Watercolor Leaves Youtube Playlist and I hope you pull out your sketchbook and paint with me! I will continue to add more and more videos to this playlist, so make sure you bookmark it or come back and check.
TIPS:
- Always try to use a heavier mixed-media or watercolor paper for best results. The thick paper will withstand more water without buckling and allow for beautiful blends!
- Watercolor leaves can be as easy or as intricate as you want to make it. I paint super simple leaf shapes that are easy to paint and relaxing.
- Any round paintbrush or Water brush will work fine for painting leaves.
- While creating dramatic color mixes in your leaves, make sure you are not overmixing! Move the colors as little as you can and let the water movement do the blending instead!
More Watercolor Project Ideas:
Below is a list of more ideas for you to try, all of these are easy relaxing paintings with tutorials included.
- How to use Watercolor and Pen together
- How to Paint Galaxy Watercolor Bookmarks
- How to Create Beautiful Watercolor Lettering: Videos + Tips!
- Watercolor Raindrops Painting Tutorial
- Easy Watercolor Pen Flowers to Paint
Watercolor Leaves:
In conclusion, watercolor leaves are a great way to practice your painting skills. Just painting leaf shapes can also be a relaxing creative break. Try creating paintings of leaves that are all mono-chrome or go in rainbow order. There are so many options! I also always love adding watercolor leaves to my easy flower watercolor paintings, the leaves just add so much interest and movement.
Hi I’m Smitha! I live in Minnesota with my husband and two daughters. You’ll always find me painting florals in my sketchbook. And I love the sheer joy of making something with just my hands! But my bigger love is capturing it all on camera Read more.
Thanks for stopping by today! If you learnt something from this tutorial, do share this post with a friend or on social media! Tag me @smithakatti #smithakatti I’d love to see what you create!
