Table of Contents
This watercolor still life collection gives you thirteen everyday objects, from a teacup to a watering can, each reduced to a few big simple shapes so the outline is easy to trace and hard to get wrong. Every subject comes as a finished painted example and a clean black and white outline underneath it, ready to print.
Print the outline at the size you want to paint, then transfer it onto good watercolor paper by holding both sheets against 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 painted example beside you and follow the colour order in each step as you go.
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.
Teacup and Saucer
Paint the cup and saucer with one pale pink wash first, leaving the paper white where the rim catches light. While the first wash is still damp, drop a slightly deeper pink into the shadow side of the cup so the two tones blend softly without a hard line. Let it dry fully before adding a thin curved line under the rim for the lip, and a small soft shadow where the cup meets the saucer to settle it onto the surface.
Palette: Opera Pink,Rose Madder,Payne’s Grey
Vase With One Flower
Keep the vase almost see through with a thin wash of pale grey blue, leaving a vertical strip of white paper down one side to suggest glass catching light. Paint the flower head in warm yellow, adding a touch of orange at the centre while the petals are still wet so the colour settles naturally. Finish with one confident green stroke for the stem, and leave the water inside the vase as plain white paper.
Palette: Naples Yellow,Cadmium Orange,Cerulean Blue,Sap Green
If the stem looks shaky, paint it last with a ruler edge as a guide, then lift the ruler before the paint dries so the line stays soft.
Teapot
Wash the whole teapot body in sage green first, working wet into wet so the colour pools a little darker near the base and spout. Leave a soft white highlight shape untouched on the rounded belly where light hits it directly. Once dry, add a deeper green shadow under the spout and handle to give the shape some weight, and paint the small lid knob in the same tone as the highlight to tie it back into the light.
Palette: Sap Green,Hooker’s Green,Raw Umber
Fruit Bowl
Paint the bowl itself in a warm neutral tan first and let it dry, since it sits behind everything else. Then paint each fruit as its own flat wash of colour, red for the apple, orange for the orange, and deep purple for the plum, keeping every shape rounded and separate. While each wash is still wet, touch a darker version of the same colour into the lower edge of each fruit so it reads as sitting in the bowl rather than floating above it.
Palette: Cadmium Red,Cadmium Orange,Dioxazine Purple,Raw Sienna
Jug With Daisies
Start with the jug in a flat pale blue wash, keeping one edge lighter to suggest the curve of the ceramic. Leave the daisy petals as plain white paper and paint only their small yellow centres, since the white petals against the background give the whole piece its freshness. Add a few loose green strokes for leaves and stems last, placing them so they overlap the jug rim slightly and hold the bunch together as one shape.
Palette: Cerulean Blue,Lemon Yellow,Sap Green
Candle in a Holder
Paint the candle body in a thin cream wash, leaving a narrow white strip down one side for the waxy shine. Keep the holder a warm honey brown, slightly darker where it meets the paper so it feels grounded. Save the flame for last, painting the base in warm yellow and touching a tiny bit of orange into its tip while still wet, then let the two colours melt into each other without any outline holding them apart.
Palette: Naples Yellow,Cadmium Orange,Raw Sienna
Stack of Books
Paint each book as one flat colour block, working from the bottom book up so you are not smudging a wet cover while reaching for the next brush. Keep every cover a single solid wash with no texture, letting the colour contrast between books do the work of separating them. Once everything is dry, draw a thin pencil or fine liner edge along the top of each spine if you want the stack to read clearly, though the colour blocks alone usually say enough.
Palette: Indian Red,Payne’s Grey,Ochre
Glass Bottle With a Stem
Paint the bottle with a thin, slightly uneven wash of soft green so it reads as glass rather than solid colour, leaving a vertical sliver of white paper untouched for the shine. Let that dry completely before adding the stem in a brighter green on top, since a darker element over a dry pale wash keeps the two materials looking distinct. Trace the stem and leaves carefully when transferring this one, since a single wobbly line changes the whole feel of the bottle.
Palette: Viridian,Sap Green,Payne’s Grey
Lemon on a Plate
Paint the lemon first in bright yellow, dropping a touch of green into one side while it is still wet so the fruit does not look flat. Leave the plate almost entirely white, adding only the thinnest grey wash along its curved rim to show it is there without it competing with the lemon. Finish with one small green leaf beside the fruit, painted in a single confident stroke rather than built up slowly.
Palette: Lemon Yellow,Sap Green,Payne’s Grey
Coffee Cup With a Croissant
Paint the coffee cup in warm terracotta first, leaving a thin white steam line rising from the rim if you want a little movement in the scene. Next, wash the croissant in warm gold, then while it is still damp, drag short curved strokes of a deeper brown along its ridges so the shape keeps its familiar curved folds without any fussy linework. If this pairing has you thinking about more easy watercolor food ideas, it pairs naturally with a kitchen series.
Palette: Burnt Sienna,Raw Sienna,Ochre
Pear and Apple
Wash the pear in pale yellow green first, letting the colour pool a touch darker near its narrower top. Paint the apple in warm red beside it, adding a small streak of yellow into one side while wet so it does not look like a flat red circle. If you enjoy pairing fruit shapes like this, there are more ideas in these easy watercolor fruit paintings to try next. Keep a visible gap of white paper between the two fruits so each shape stays clearly separate.
Palette: Sap Green,Lemon Yellow,Cadmium Red
Watering Can
Paint the body of the can in one even dusty blue wash, keeping the handle and spout as thin unbroken lines of the same colour so the whole shape stays connected. While the base is still slightly damp, touch a little warm rust colour along the bottom edge to suggest worn metal. Leave the spout opening as a tiny dot of white paper, which is a small detail but it is the one touch that makes the can read as hollow rather than solid.
Palette: Cerulean Blue,Payne’s Grey,Burnt Sienna
Mason Jar of Flowers
Paint the jar with the thinnest wash of grey blue, leaving most of it white paper so it still feels like clear glass, then let the stems show faintly through the lower half once dry. Build the flowers in small loose dabs of pink, purple and white, working from the back of the bunch forward so the front flowers sit on top and read as closest to you. For more ways to paint the blooms themselves, these simple watercolor flowers ideas cover plenty of petal shapes worth practicing.
Palette: Opera Pink,Dioxazine Purple,Sap Green,Payne’s Grey
What to Do Next
Pick one subject that suits what you have on hand today, print its outline, transfer it to your watercolor paper and work through the colour steps with the painted example propped beside you.
Frequently Asked Questions
What size should I print the outlines?
Print them at standard letter or A4 size to match most watercolor pads. If your paper is smaller, scale the print down slightly in your printer settings before tracing.
What paper should I paint these on?
Use a cold press watercolor paper of at least 140lb weight. It holds the washes without buckling too much and takes the traced lines cleanly.
How do I transfer the outline without a light pad?
Tape the printed outline and your watercolor paper together against a sunny window and trace the lines through with a pencil. Graphite transfer paper slipped between the two sheets works just as well on a tabletop.
Can I use colored pencils or markers instead of watercolor?
Yes, every outline works just as well with colored pencils or markers. Follow the same colour placement described for each piece, just blend pencil layers gently instead of wet paint.
Why is the outline so simple with no shading?
A plain line outline is easiest to trace accurately and leaves all the shading decisions to you while you paint. Shading baked into the outline would fight with your own washes.
Have any thoughts?
Share your reaction or leave a quick response — we’d love to hear what you think!
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