Welcome back to my Rainbow Series friends! In today’s tutorial, you will learn how to paint a rainbow floral watercolor in your sketchbook! These loose florals are easy and fun to paint!
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Supplies list:
- Sketchbook: Using the same Strathmore Mixed Media sketchbook that I used in my previous post- WATERCOLOR RAINBOW TUTORIAL WITH BOLD HANDLETTERED QUOTE
- Watercolor pens: I’m using my Tombow Dual Brush Pens here. Any watercolor brush pen of your choice will work here. The color numbers used in today’s painting are 755, 885, 933, 985, 133, 173, 379, 403, 526, 685, 817, 772
- Paintbrush or Water Brush: Today I’m using this Round 6 paintbrush.
- Masking tape: Many tapes can easily peel your sketchbook paper. But, I have finally found this paper tape that doesn’t rip the paper at all!. I’ve used this to mask the center of the butterfly
How to create a Rainbow Floral Watercolor
Learn how to paint a Rainbow Floral Watercolor spread in your sketchbook!
Total Time: 30 minutes
Start with a Sketch
Using a 2H pencil or mechanical pencil, loosely sketch out the floral and leaves on the page. This will help with the placement of the elements while painting.
Apply Masking Tape
Mask off the four edges of the sketchbook with a good quality masking tape. This will create a neat white edge around our finished painting.
Apply Marker colors directly onto the paper
I like starting with a flower, and usually, it’s a pink flower 🙂
Apply the marker color directly onto the paper. First, add a darker pink color towards the base of each petal and then a lighter pink near the outer edges of the petals
Blend the colors softly with water
Using a paintbrush that is damp with water, first paint over the lighter pink area of ALL the petals. Then start painting over the dark pink areas slowly. Let your paintbrush strokes pull the colors to just meet. The dark and light pink colors will blend softly. 
Work on the next flower, then leaf
Continue in this manner, painting one flower or leaf at a time. Remember to leave time for adjacent elements to dry- or else the colors will bleed into each other. 
Vary the shapes of your leaves and flowers
Paint different shapes of petals, make some flowers larger some smaller. Vary the greens you use for the leaves- maybe add some blue to a few of the leaves to change the color. 
Add the rainbow background
The masking tape comes really handy here. Start by applying your marker color along the masking tape edge- going in the ROYGVIB order. Then using your paintbrush, paint the area around the flowers and leave with JUST WATER! Slowly drag the marker color into the water and mix. Blend the colors of the rainbow as you go.
Peel off the masking tape
Peel off the masking tape to reveal those crisp white areas
All done!
I hope you enjoyed today’s tutorials friends! Let me know in the comments below what you think 🙂
MORE RAINBOW FLORAL Watercolor EXAMPLES!
In this Rainbow floral watercolor example I used the Camel Artist’s Watercolor cakes, watch the video here
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FAQs
What should I do if the pencil marks from the initial sketch show through after painting?
After the painting dries completely, then go in with a good eraser and erase all the pencil marks showing through. You can easily erase the lines showing through after the paint dries.
Any tips for peeling masking tape?
I recommend peeling the tape while the paint is slightly damp and not completely dried. If you let the paint dry completely, there are more chances of the paint or paper peeling along with the tape.
If you masking tape is too sticky, try placing your tape on your clothing for a minute to remove part of the stickiness.
