- Large Rose Bud
- Orange and Grey Flower Head
- Coral Peony Half Open
- Magnolia
- Camellia
- White Anemone With Dark Center
- Ranunculus
- Cosmos
- Hibiscus
- Lotus
- Calla Lily
- Cherry Blossom Sprig
- Gardenia
- Orchid Stem
- Frequently Asked Questions
This floral watercolor collection gives you fourteen flowers to paint without drawing a single petal from scratch. Each one comes as a finished painting to look at and a clean black and white outline built from a few big simple shapes, so tracing it onto your own paper is quick and painless.
Print the outline at the size you want, then transfer it to watercolor paper by taping both sheets to a sunny window or a light pad, or by slipping graphite transfer paper between them and tracing the lines. Once the shapes are on your paper, prop the finished example beside you and follow the colours in whatever order feels easiest.
Using these images: free for personal projects such as printing, coloring, cards, journals and gifts. Handmade items that include them may be sold up to 30 pieces per design. More than that is commercial use and is not permitted, and neither is selling or sharing the images themselves or passing them off as your own. Please ask before any other use.
Large Rose Bud
Start with the palest pink wash across the whole bud, then drop a stronger coral into the lower curls while the paper is still damp so the colours melt together. Add a touch of deep red at the base where the petals wrap tight, keeping that part the darkest value on the page. Let the top edge stay almost white so the bud looks lit from above, and leave one thin sliver of bare paper along a petal fold as the finishing highlight.
Palette: Opera Pink,Permanent Rose,Alizarin Crimson,Sap Green
Orange and Grey Flower Head
Paint the petals one at a time in warm orange, leaving a thin white gap between each so the shapes stay separate and crisp. Mix a soft grey from blue and a touch of orange for the center, keeping it flat and simple rather than textured. Once everything is dry, add a few short grey strokes radiating out from the center onto the base of two or three petals to tie the colours together as the one finishing touch.
Palette: Cadmium Orange,Payne’s Grey,Naples Yellow,Sap Green
Coral Peony Half Open
Work from the outer petals inward, starting each one with a pale coral wash and dropping a stronger pink into the base while it is wet. Keep the center petals tighter and brighter since that is where the eye lands first. A tiny dab of warm yellow right at the heart of the bloom, added once the surrounding pink has dried, gives the flower its glowing finished look.
Palette: Coral,Quinacridone Pink,Naples Yellow,Sap Green
If the shapes still feel like a lot to trace at first, warm up with the simpler blooms in 15 Easy Watercolor Flower for Beginners before tackling this one.
Magnolia
Each petal gets its own wash, pink at the base fading up to near white at the tip, blended while damp so there is no hard line between the two. Keep a consistent light source across all petals so the flower reads as one lit form rather than separate pieces. Paint the branch behind in a dry grey brown last, using quick confident strokes so it stays thin and does not compete with the bloom.
Palette: Rose Pink,Titanium White (paper),Burnt Umber,Payne’s Grey
Camellia
Lay a mid pink wash across every petal first so the whole flower reads as one shape, then go back in with stronger rose red along the inner petals to build the layered look. Keep the outer petals lighter so the bloom feels like it opens toward you. Paint the leaves in a rich dark green with a touch of blue mixed in, using one smooth stroke per leaf so they stay glossy rather than textured.
Palette: Rose Red,Permanent Rose,Hooker’s Green,Payne’s Grey
White Anemone With Dark Center
Leave the petals almost entirely bare paper, just a whisper of pale grey blue in the shadowed folds so they do not look flat. The whole character of this flower sits in the center, so build it in layers: a ring of deep purple first, then a smaller circle of near black dropped in while damp so the edge softens slightly. Keep the stem a single thin confident line in dark green so it does not pull focus from that center.
Palette: Payne’s Grey,Dioxazine Purple,Ivory Black,Sap Green
Ranunculus
Because the petals spiral in tight layers, paint from the center out so each new wash can tuck under the edge of the one before it. Start the core in a deeper apricot, then cool the colour slightly as you work outward toward soft pink at the edge. A few short dry brush lines added once everything is dry, following the curve of two or three outer petals, give the bloom its last bit of structure without turning into fuss.
Palette: Apricot,Quinacridone Pink,Naples Yellow,Burnt Sienna
Cosmos
Paint each petal with one quick wash of magenta pink, leaving the very base of every petal paler so the colour pools naturally toward the yellow center. Keep the yellow center small and flat, no shading needed, just a clean bright dot. The stem is thin, so paint it last with a fine brush in one steady stroke rather than going back over it, which keeps it from looking shaky.
Palette: Magenta,Quinacridone Pink,Cadmium Yellow,Sap Green
Hibiscus
Wash each petal in warm red orange, pulling a little extra water toward the outer edge so the colour fades softly rather than stopping hard. The long stamen is the detail that makes a hibiscus recognisable, so paint it carefully in one smooth line once the petals are dry, finishing with small yellow dots at the very tip. Keep everything else loose so that one careful element stands out.
Palette: Scarlet Red,Cadmium Orange,Cadmium Yellow,Sap Green
Lotus
Paint the petals from pale pink at the tips down to a stronger rose at the base where they overlap, the opposite direction from most flowers, which gives the lotus its particular glow. Let the lily pad dry as one flat wash of green with a single darker line down the middle for the vein, nothing more. A thin flat stroke of pale blue grey behind the flower is enough to suggest water without turning this into a landscape.
Palette: Rose Pink,Permanent Rose,Sap Green,Cerulean Blue
Calla Lily
Keep the petal mostly bare white paper and paint only the shadowed inner curl in a thin grey violet wash, which is what gives the smooth wrapped shape its form. The yellow spadix in the center should be the strongest colour on the page, painted in one solid wash with no blending needed. The stem is long and plain, so one even green wash top to bottom keeps the whole picture calm.
Palette: Titanium White (paper),Lavender Grey,Cadmium Yellow,Sap Green
Cherry Blossom Sprig
Because the blossoms are small, transfer the outline carefully so the thin branch line and each little flower centre land exactly where they should. Paint every blossom with a single pale pink wash, dropping a touch of deeper pink at the base of two or three petals while damp for gentle variety across the sprig. Add the branch last in dry burnt umber, then finish each flower center with one tiny dot of warm yellow.
Palette: Rose Pink,Permanent Rose,Burnt Umber,Cadmium Yellow
For more branch and petal arrangements in this same spirit, 29 Cherry Blossom Painting Ideas has plenty worth trying next.
Gardenia
Gardenia petals are nearly white, so mix only the faintest warm cream wash and let most of the shape stay bare paper, adding the cream mainly into the folds between petals. This restraint is what makes the flower look soft rather than flat. The single leaf beside it carries the only strong colour in the piece, painted in one confident dark green stroke with a thin paler line left bare down the middle as its vein.
Palette: Titanium White (paper),Naples Yellow,Hooker’s Green,Sap Green
Orchid Stem
Paint each orchid flower with the same pale purple pink wash so the stem reads as one plant, then while each bloom is still slightly damp, touch a small stroke of deeper purple into the lower petal of every flower. The yellow throat mark on each bloom is the detail that finishes it, added once the purple has dried so it stays a clean crisp dot rather than bleeding. Keep the stem thin and straight, painted in one unbroken green line.
Palette: Lavender,Dioxazine Purple,Cadmium Yellow,Sap Green
Once orchids feel comfortable, the simpler stems and single blooms in 15 Simple Watercolor Flowers Ideas make a good next step down in difficulty.
What to Do Next
Pick whichever flower catches your eye first, print its outline, and get it transferred onto your watercolor paper today so it is ready to paint the next time you sit down with your brushes.
Frequently Asked Questions
What size should I print the outlines at?
Print at standard letter or A4 size for a comfortable painting size, around 7 to 10 inches across. Enlarge on a home printer or at a copy shop if you want a bigger piece for framing.
What paper works best for these paintings?
Cold press watercolor paper, 140lb or heavier, handles washes and blending without buckling. Smooth paper dries too fast for the soft blended edges these flowers rely on.
How do I transfer the outline without being able to draw?
Tape the printed outline behind your watercolor paper against a sunny window or a light pad and trace the lines through with pencil. Graphite transfer paper works the same way without needing light to shine through.
Can I use coloured pencils or markers instead of watercolor?
Yes, the same outlines work well with coloured pencils or markers, just colour in the same order described, light areas first. Blend pencil layers with light pressure for a softer look closer to a wash.
What if my colours bleed outside the lines?
A little bleed is normal with watercolor and often looks natural on a flower. Keep washes slightly drier near the traced edge and let one section dry before painting the shape right next to it.