Frilled Watercolor Butterfly - How To Watercolor Tutorial

Any opportunity to add to our watercolor butterfly series is a good reason to pick up my watercolor brushes! This was a fun one! I loved painting this realistic butterfly and I know that you will too! The frills and bright pops of color (though limited) remind me of Latin dances for some reason—even in a largely black/white palette (though I think this butterfly is actually Asian in origin). I also love the softness of the lighter body in this butterfly. Most of the butterflies I have illustrated thus far have a dark body, even if there is some color included, so this created a fun challenge!

In this video I'm going to show you how to watercolor this frilled female butterfly and even share with you what I would do DIFFERENTLY if I was to paint her over again. I will also share a few artistic liberities that I took with this particular illustration—as usual, there’s some color pops added through the composition that don’t really belong, but totally polish off this piece! I hope you love it :)

Don’t have time to finish this post? Pin one of these for later!

 
How to watercolor a realistic butterfly!  I can't wait to show you my step-by-step process for creating this realistic watercolor butterfly—including color mixing and a few of my favorite watercolor techniques and tricks!  Enjoy the full video tutor…
How to watercolor a frilled butterfly!  This butterfly has a unique and beautiful scalloped or frilled edge—thus it's name!  I can't wait to show you my step by step watercolor painting process to capture this beautiful butterfly! Including a few cr…
 


Watercolor Butterfly Tutorial:

Supplies:* (paint colors used are in bold)

Watercolor Butterfly Playlist

Reference Photo: Female Frilled Butterfly
Paper: https://amzn.to/2VabxAX
Watercolor Brushes (Round, size 6): https://amzn.to/2vFKbID 
Large Palette: https://amzn.to/2NMsJZD

Top: (right to left)

Burnt Sienna: https://amzn.to/2UoERCW
Burnt Umber: https://amzn.to/2Un00xo
Piemontite Genuine: https://amzn.to/2QT0qJR
Deep Scarlet: https://amzn.to/39pxWxF
Alizarin Crimson: https://amzn.to/2QU0NUr
Cadmium Red (deep): https://amzn.to/2UoZr6f
Cadmium Red (pale): https://amzn.to/3dxuBQu
Cadmium Orange: https://amzn.to/2QRTmND

Side: (top to bottom)

Cadmium Yellow: https://amzn.to/2JnWjBe
Lemon Yellow Hue:
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Yellow Ochre:
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Raw Sienna: https://amzn.to/2JitA0K
Terre Verte (Yellow Shade): https://amzn.to/33SBCXz
Sap Green: https://amzn.to/39rMVHA
Hooker’s Green: https://amzn.to/3atQhLi
Jadeite Genuine: https://amzn.to/2WRSz30

Bottom: (right to left)

Viridian Hue: https://amzn.to/3arbw0u
Intense Blue (Phthalo): https://amzn.to/3alKCHf
Ultramarine: https://amzn.to/3dzetxT
Mayan Blue Genuine: https://amzn.to/2JlSfSb
Indigo: https://amzn.to/2xvJFh7
Amethyst Genuine: https://amzn.to/3aqN3ID
Permanent Rose: https://amzn.to/2QSZrt9
Rhodonite Genuine: https://amzn.to/3bwCqUH

Off Screen:

Ivory Black: https://amzn.to/39rOCEG
Hematite Genuine (warm black): https://amzn.to/2WNGKe2
Chinese White: https://amzn.to/3bwRt0B

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