- Cornflower
- Ox-Eye Daisy
- Red Field Poppy
- Buttercup With Two Leaves
- Bluebell Stem
- Foxglove Spike
- Black-Eyed Susan
- Red Clover Head
- Harebell
- Wild Pink Campion
- Field Scabious
- Forget-Me-Not Cluster
- Dandelion Flower and Seed Head
- Small Posy of Three Wildflowers
- Frequently Asked Questions
This wildflower watercolor collection gives you fourteen flowers you can paint today without drawing a single petal from scratch. Each one comes as a finished painted example and a clean printable outline built from a few big closed shapes, simple enough to trace straight onto your own paper.
Print the outline at the size you want, then transfer it to 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 outline is on your paper, prop the painted example beside you and follow the colour notes for each flower.
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.
Cornflower
Paint the fringed petals with a mix of ultramarine and a touch of violet, pulling the colour from the centre outward in loose strokes so each petal keeps a ragged, feathery edge. Drop a touch of deeper violet into the still-wet centre for depth. Paint the stem and two slim leaves in sap green with a little yellow mixed in near the base. Let the petal tips stay pale where they meet the white paper, this is the touch that keeps the flower looking light and airy rather than solid.
Palette: Ultramarine Blue,Dioxazine Violet,Sap Green,Cadmium Yellow
Ox-Eye Daisy
Leave the petals mostly white, just brushing a pale grey-blue wash along one side of each petal to suggest a soft shadow and keep the shape from looking flat. Paint the round centre in cadmium yellow, then while it is still damp touch a little burnt sienna into the lower half so the centre reads as rounded rather than a flat coin. Finish the stem in sap green. The one touch that finishes this piece is a faint blue shadow line where two petals overlap.
Palette: Payne’s Grey,Cadmium Yellow,Burnt Sienna,Sap Green
Red Field Poppy
Wet each petal first with clean water, then drop in cadmium red and let it bloom outward on its own so the edges stay soft like crepe paper. While the red is still damp, touch a little alizarin crimson into the base of each petal for depth. Once dry, paint the small centre disc in a near-black mix of Payne’s grey and burnt sienna, with a ring of short dark marks around it. For more simple watercolor flowers ideas like this one, keep the stem a thin, confident single stroke.
Palette: Cadmium Red,Alizarin Crimson,Payne’s Grey,Sap Green
A tiny spritz of water on the still-wet petal edge gives a soft bloom that reads as delicate poppy texture without any extra brushwork.
Buttercup With Two Leaves
Paint the petals in a flat wash of cadmium yellow, then while still wet touch a stroke of orange into the base of each petal where it meets the centre, so the colour pools naturally toward the middle. Leave a tiny white highlight untouched on one petal to suggest the natural shine buttercups have. Paint the two leaves in a mix of sap green and a touch of yellow, keeping the lobes simple and rounded rather than jagged.
Palette: Cadmium Yellow,Cadmium Orange,Sap Green
Bluebell Stem
Work from the top of the stem downward, painting each bell shape in a light wash of ultramarine mixed with a touch of violet, leaving the open mouth of each bell slightly paler where light would catch it. Let neighbouring bells blend softly into each other along the stem for a natural, loose feel. Paint the stem and single slim leaf in sap green. Take care tracing the curved stem and the small bell outlines, since this is the one subject here with several repeated small shapes along a line.
Palette: Ultramarine Blue,Dioxazine Violet,Sap Green
Foxglove Spike
Paint each tube-shaped bloom in a pale wash of quinacridone pink, working from top to bottom of the spike so each flower stays a little lighter than the one below it. Once each bloom is dry, add two or three small dots of deeper magenta inside the open mouth of each flower, this speckled throat is the touch that makes a foxglove instantly recognisable. Paint the stem and narrow leaves at the base in a cool sap green.
Palette: Quinacridone Pink,Magenta,Sap Green
Black-Eyed Susan
Paint the petals in golden yellow, deepening to a touch of orange near the base of each petal where it meets the centre cone. Paint the raised centre cone in burnt umber, then while damp add a darker brown shadow on its lower half so the cone looks domed rather than flat. This shading on the centre is the single detail that sells the whole flower, so take your time there even though the petals stay simple and flat.
Palette: Golden Yellow,Cadmium Orange,Burnt Umber
Red Clover Head
Rather than paint each tiny floret, lay a loose variegated wash over the whole round head, starting with quinacridone pink at the top and letting it deepen to magenta toward the base where the florets are shadowed. While still damp, pull a few short vertical strokes upward with a fine brush to suggest individual florets without drawing each one. Paint the trifoil leaf below in sap green with a pale crescent left unpainted on each leaflet.
Palette: Quinacridone Pink,Magenta,Sap Green
Harebell
Keep this wash very light, harebells are pale and papery, so mix a thin wash of cerulean blue with plenty of water and let one side of each bell fade almost back to white. Paint the thread-like stem in a single light green line, since harebell stems are naturally very fine. Leave most of the page as open white space around the flower, that margin is part of what makes this one feel delicate rather than crowded.
Palette: Cerulean Blue,Sap Green
Wild Pink Campion
Paint each notched petal in a light wash of quinacridone pink, leaving the pale central vein of each petal as a thin unpainted line. Where the petals meet at the centre, deepen the colour slightly with a touch of magenta so the eye reads the centre as the focal point. Paint the rounded, slightly inflated calyx beneath the petals in a dusty green mixed with a touch of pink, which is what gives campion its particular soft, papery look.
Palette: Quinacridone Pink,Magenta,Sap Green
Field Scabious
Paint the outer ring of larger petals first in a light lavender wash, then paint the domed centre cluster in a slightly deeper violet so it visibly sits above the outer petals. Once dry, dot a few tiny flecks of white gouache or leave small unpainted specks across the centre dome to suggest the many small florets packed together. This speckled dome is the one detail worth lingering on, everything else in the piece is a simple flat wash.
You Will Need
- white gel pen or white gouache for tiny dots
Palette: Lavender,Dioxazine Violet,Sap Green
Forget-Me-Not Cluster
Since the flowers are drawn extra large here, you can treat each one individually: paint the five rounded petals of each bloom in cerulean blue, then touch a tiny dot of cadmium yellow into the very centre of each while the blue is still slightly damp so it softens at the edge. Vary the blue slightly from flower to flower, some a touch more violet, some more green, so the cluster does not look uniform. Keep tracing light here, the small centre dots are the only part that needs real care.
Palette: Cerulean Blue,Cadmium Yellow,Sap Green
Dandelion Flower and Seed Head
Paint the yellow flower first with loose, slightly irregular strokes of golden yellow radiating from the centre, since dandelion petals are thin and uneven rather than neat. For the seed head, barely touch the brush to the paper with a very pale grey wash around the round outline, then use a fine brush or the point of a toothbrush dipped in white gouache to flick tiny white lines outward for the seed puffs. The contrast between the two heads is what makes this pairing work so well.
You Will Need
- white gouache and a fine brush or old toothbrush for the seed head
Palette: Golden Yellow,Payne’s Grey,Sap Green
If the fine seed lines feel fiddly, switch to a white gel pen once the grey wash is fully dry, it gives cleaner control than a wet brush.
Small Posy of Three Wildflowers
Paint each flower in the posy using the same mixes you used for its single-stem version earlier in this set: white and yellow for the daisy, blue and violet for the cornflower, red and crimson for the poppy. Paint the three stems bound together in sap green, then paint the ribbon in a soft pink with a slightly deeper pink shadow where it crosses over itself. Finishing with all three flowers in bloom colours you have already practiced makes this the most satisfying piece to end the collection on. For another take on grouped blooms, the carnation drawing ideas collection pairs well with this one.
Palette: Cadmium Yellow,Ultramarine Blue,Cadmium Red,Quinacridone Pink,Sap Green
What to Do Next
Pick one wildflower, print its outline, transfer it to your watercolor paper and paint it today with the example beside you. Work through the set in any order, since each one stands alone and uses mixes you can carry straight into the next flower.
Frequently Asked Questions
What size should I print the outlines?
Print at standard letter or A4 size for most templates, which suits a half sheet of watercolor paper well. Enlarge the posy or foxglove spike slightly if you want more room to work with the brush.
What paper works best for these wildflower paintings?
Cold press watercolor paper, at least 140lb weight, handles washes without buckling. It also takes graphite transfer lines cleanly, which matters once you start tracing the outline onto it.
How do I transfer the outline without a window or light pad?
Slip a sheet of graphite transfer paper, graphite side down, between the printed outline and your watercolor paper, then trace the lines with a pencil. This works anywhere and needs no light source at all.
Can I colour these with pencils or markers instead of watercolor?
Yes, every outline traces just as well for coloured pencils or markers. Follow the same colour placement described for each flower, just blend pencil layers gently instead of wetting the paper.
Why do some flowers need extra tools like gouache or a toothbrush?
A few subjects, like the scabious centre or the dandelion seed head, need tiny white flecks that a brush alone struggles to make crisp. White gouache, a gel pen or a flicked toothbrush gives cleaner small marks than paint alone.