Table of Contents
This nature watercolor collection gathers fourteen small treasures you might pass on a walk and never think to paint: an acorn, a feather, a snail shell, a single snowdrop. Each one is built from a few big closed shapes, so there is nothing fiddly to draw and nothing to get wrong before the paint even touches the page.
Print the outline, hold it against a sunny window or a light pad (or go over the lines with graphite transfer paper), and trace it onto your watercolor paper. Then prop the finished painting next to your easel or desk and follow it stroke by stroke, color by color, start to finish.
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.
Bird Nest With Eggs
Lay a pale yellow ochre wash over the whole nest shape first, then while it is still damp drop in burnt sienna along the lower curve so the two colors blend into a soft woven texture without any hard edges. Once dry, paint the eggs in a light robin’s egg blue and dot a few grey-brown speckles on with the tip of the brush. The one touch that finishes it is a thin line of dark brown dragged along a handful of twig edges to suggest the weave without drawing every strand.
Palette: Yellow Ochre,Burnt Sienna,Robin’s Egg Blue,Payne’s Grey
Single Feather
Wet the whole feather shape and drop in a pale grey-blue along the top edge, letting it bloom softly toward the base so the color fades out with no hard line. Leave the central quill as untouched white paper, then once everything is dry, run a very thin grey line down the middle with a fine brush to suggest the shaft. Paint a few short, loose strokes angling outward from the quill on each side to hint at the barbs, keeping them light and irregular rather than even.
Palette: Payne’s Grey,Cerulean Blue,Neutral Grey
Try this one in just two colors instead of three if you want a quicker, more graphic result; the simplified palette still reads clearly as a feather.
Acorn
Paint the cap first in a dry, stippled yellow ochre so the brush leaves small broken marks that read as its rough texture, then let it dry completely before starting the nut. Wash the nut body in a warm burnt sienna, adding a touch of darker brown along the right edge while still wet so it shades itself. Finish with one small white highlight left bare near the top left of the nut, which is what makes it look rounded and glossy rather than flat.
Palette: Yellow Ochre,Burnt Sienna,Van Dyke Brown
Hazelnut Pair
Paint both nut shapes in a light honey brown wash, keeping the second nut a shade paler so it reads as sitting slightly behind the first. While the paint is still wet, touch a soft sap green along the frilled husk edges and let it bleed gently into the brown. Add a tiny dark brown mark at the base of each nut where it would have joined the branch, which is a small detail that makes the pair feel complete.
Palette: Honey Brown,Sap Green,Van Dyke Brown
Snail Shell
Work from the outer edge of the spiral inward, painting alternating bands of warm tan and burnt sienna so the stripes follow the curve of the shell naturally. Keep each band a flat, even wash and let one dry before painting its neighbour, which keeps the spiral crisp instead of muddy. Add a thin dark brown line right at the center of the spiral last, since that single small mark is what pulls the whole curl together and makes it look finished.
Palette: Raw Sienna,Burnt Sienna,Van Dyke Brown
If the spiral feels tricky to transfer cleanly, trace it in short sections rather than one continuous line; it is easier to keep the curve accurate that way.
Puffball Mushroom
Wash the whole puffball in a pale cream, then while still damp dab a slightly darker beige unevenly over the surface with a nearly dry brush so it picks up a soft mottled texture instead of a flat color. Let that dry fully before adding a short strip of sap green grass at the base to ground it. A few small dots of light brown scattered near the top of the puffball are the detail that makes it look textured rather than like a plain egg shape.
Palette: Cream,Beige,Sap Green
Dandelion Clock
Leave most of this one as bare white paper, since the dandelion clock is mostly light; only wash a very pale grey around the edge of the round seed head to give it a soft outer shape. Paint the thin stem in a light sap green with one quick steady stroke. The finishing touch is a scatter of very fine grey lines radiating out from the center with the tip of a fine brush, spaced unevenly so it feels light and airy rather than stiff.
You Will Need
- fine liner brush
Palette: Pale Grey,Sap Green,Titanium White
A white gel pen over the dry paint adds a few extra fine seed lines on top and makes the head look fuller without repainting anything.
Ladybird on a Leaf
Paint the leaf first in a fresh green wash, varying it slightly lighter near the edges so it does not sit flat. Once dry, paint the ladybird’s shell in a bright poppy red and let it dry completely before adding the small black spots and head, since red and black will turn muddy brown if mixed wet on wet. The one dot of white left bare on the shell’s curve is what gives it the gentle shine that makes it look rounded, an idea that works well alongside the bugs over in 27 Watercolor Bugs Ideas for Beetles, Ladybirds and Dragonflies in Nature.
Palette: Poppy Red,Ivory Black,Sap Green
Bumblebee
Paint the body in bands, starting with golden yellow stripes and leaving gaps for black, then once the yellow is dry fill in the black stripes so the edges stay crisp instead of blending into green-grey. Keep the wings nearly unpainted, just a whisper of pale grey wash so they read as translucent rather than solid. A fine line of soft grey fuzz along the body’s outer edge, painted dry-brush style, is the small touch that makes the bee look soft instead of plastic.
Palette: Golden Yellow,Ivory Black,Pale Grey
Pebble Pile
Paint each pebble as its own flat wash first, one in warm grey, one in soft beige, one in a dusty blue-grey, so they read as separate stones rather than one blob. While each is still slightly damp, drop a touch of darker tone along the bottom edge of each pebble to give it a sense of weight sitting on the one below. Leave a small white gap of bare paper between the stones so each shape stays distinct and easy to tell apart.
Palette: Warm Grey,Beige,Dusty Blue
Twig With Berries
Paint the twig first in a thin line of warm brown, then paint each berry as a small flat circle of bright red, leaving a tiny gap of white paper between each one so they stay distinct rather than merging into a red blob. While the berries are still a little damp, touch a deeper red or maroon into the bottom of two or three of them to give the cluster some depth. A single dark dot left on each berry, placed off-center, reads as the little stem mark and finishes the whole twig convincingly.
Palette: Warm Brown,Cadmium Red,Maroon
Butterfly on a Flower
Paint the flower petals in a soft pink wash first, keeping the center untouched for now, then once dry fill the flower’s center with a warm yellow. Move to the butterfly and wash the upper wings in soft orange, letting a little cream bleed in near the wing tips while still damp for a gentle gradient. Finish with a few small black dots and short lines along the wing edges, kept minimal, which gives the wings just enough pattern without crowding them; for more flower-first ideas see 15 Simple Watercolor Flowers Ideas.
Palette: Soft Orange,Cream,Soft Pink,Golden Yellow
Seed Pod
Wash the pod in a muted olive green at the top, then while still wet pull a warm brown down from the tip so the two colors blend softly into one another along the pod’s length. Keep the stem thin and simple, just one steady stroke of brown. The last touch is a thin darker green line traced along one side of the pod to suggest its seam, giving the smooth shape just enough structure to look like a real pod rather than a plain almond shape.
Palette: Olive Green,Warm Brown,Dark Green
Snowdrop
Leave the petals almost entirely bare white paper, since a snowdrop’s charm is in how little color it needs, and just touch a very pale green at the base of each petal where it meets the stem. Paint the thin stem and single narrow leaf in a soft sap green, keeping the line light and slightly curved rather than ruler straight. The small green chevron mark on the inner petal, added last with a fine brush, is the one detail that makes it unmistakably a snowdrop rather than a generic white flower; take care transferring this thin stem since it is the most delicate line in the set.
You Will Need
- fine liner brush
Palette: Titanium White,Pale Green,Sap Green
What to Do Next
Pick whichever of these fourteen nature treasures catches your eye first, print its outline, and get it onto your watercolor paper today while the idea is fresh. Keep the finished example propped beside your paper as you paint, and work through the rest of the collection whenever you want a quick, satisfying subject with no drawing required.
Frequently Asked Questions
What size should I print these outlines at?
Print at standard letter or A4 size for a comfortable painting size on a quarter sheet of watercolor paper. Scale up on a photocopier if you want a larger centerpiece painting for framing.
What paper works best for these templates?
Cold press watercolor paper of at least 140lb weight holds washes without buckling and keeps edges crisp. Avoid plain printer paper for the final painting, since it warps and pills under wet brushstrokes.
How do I transfer the outline without a light source?
Use graphite transfer paper: place it graphite-side down between the printed outline and your watercolor paper, then trace over the lines with a pencil. This works well even without a sunny window or light pad.
Can I color these with pencils or markers instead of paint?
Yes, every outline works equally well with colored pencils or markers. Build color in light layers with pencils for soft blending, or use markers for flat, bold color closer to the painted examples.
Do I need to copy the colors exactly?
No, the palettes are a starting guide, not a rule. Swap in your own favorite shades, especially for the berries, flower petals or pebbles, since nature’s colors vary naturally anyway.
Have any thoughts?
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