Easy Watercolor Maple Leaf Tutorial

Fall is in the air, and let’s paint a watercolor maple leaf together. There is nothing quite as iconic as a vibrant, as the dramatic maple leaf! If traditional watercolors feel intimidating, using brush pens is a fun, mess-free alternative that delivers rich, glowing results.

Check out my master guide on How to Paint Watercolor Leaves for so many leaf painting ideas. Grab your sketchbook, and let’s paint together!

Materials You’ll Need:

• Watercolor Sketchbook / Paper: Thick, textured watercolor paper works best.
• Tombow Dual Brush Pens: Yellow, Orange, Red, and Green (Tombow Dual Brush Pens or similar).
• Round Paintbrushes: Size 6
• Jar of Clean Water
• Paper Towel / Rag (for dabbing excess water)

Easy Watercolor Maple Leaf Tutorial Step by Step

You can browse these Maple leaf photos to use as reference photos and this leaf drawing tutorial has many step by step examples for your preliminary pencil outlines.

How to paint fall maple leaf using brush pens step by step.

Step 1: Sketch and Central Veins

Lightly sketch the shape of a maple leaf with a pencil, then softly erase it so the lines are just barely visible. Using your yellow brush pen, draw along the center veins.

Pro Tip: Always apply marker ink to dry paper to protect the longevity of your brush tips!

Step 2: draw Outline of Leaf

Next, outline the leaf edges and tips with brown and red.

Step 3: The First Water Wash

Dip your paintbrush into water and lightly dab off any excess. Gently go over the yellow ink first, then blend outwards into the reds and browns. Keep your brush damp rather than dripping wet—this prevents the colors from becoming soupy and keeps the leaf edges crisp.

Step 4: Let It Dry & Add Layers

Once your base layer is completely dry, it’s time to add depth! Re-apply rich red ink in the body of the leaf. Lightly glaze over the new layers with clean water

Step 5: Soften and Blend the Details

Add deep brown right at the sharp points and tips. Gently dragging the dark brown from the tips inward to create a seamless gradient. This brings out the natural splotchiness and texture found in real autumn foliage.

I love how the pointed leaf structure of the watercolor maple leaf stands out.

If you enjoyed this watercolor maple leaf, I also have a how to draw a maple leaf using alcohol markers tutorial that you can try next!

watercolor maple leaf tutorial Video:

Follow along stroke-by-stroke in the video here: Watercolor maple leaf video.

Keep Painting: More Easy Leaf Tutorials

If you enjoyed this watercolor maple leaf tutorial, building a full autumn leaf collection is a fun next step. Here are a few step by step guides to help you practice different leaf shapes

• Watercolor Ash Leaf Branch Tutorial – Learn how to paint compound leaves with smooth colors
• Easy Watercolor Oak Leaf – Practice painting rounded lobes and deep, earthy autumn tones.
• Watercolor Aspen Leaf Tutorial – Master delicate heart-shaped leaves with bright golden washes.