How to paint a realistic blue flower in watercolor

If blue is the colour of calm, and painting flowers is a proven way to boost your wellbeing, then painting blue flowers must surely be balm for the soul. So in this mini class, I’m going to give you a start-to-finish overview of how to create a realistic blue flower painting.

Our subject is a Blue Skyflower (Thunbergia grandiflora) and we’ll be using a limited palette of 6 colours to paint it.

Though I usually paint on 100% cotton hot pressed paper, in this class I wanted to show how this technique can be used on cheaper sketchbook paper.

Whilst the paper I’m using here is still fairly smooth, it’s much less absorbent, so you’ll see in the video how I have to be gentle with the brush so as not to lift the previous layers of colour off the paper.

You’ll know if you’ve tried to paint a blue flower before that it can be quite tricky to achieve a natural look.

Generally this is because within that overall blue colour, there tend to be many versions of it, with slightly different hues. We’ll be seeking to observe and match those subtle hue shifts in this painting so we can paint a realistic blue flower with both depth and a luminous glow.

For this realistic blue flower painting we’ll be working wet-on-dry, building up the painting in layers and working our way through the areas of tonal value.

As with all my free mini classes, there’s a full length version of the tutorial available inside Nature Studio, which comes with clear, step-by-step video instruction, a traceable outline drawing, detailed guidance on colour mixing plus reference photos.

Watch the mini class:

After painting this Blue Skyflower, how about trying an iridescent bluebell in similar relaxing colours?

I hope this mini class inspires you to have a go at painting your own realistic blue flower and that you’ve found my tips helpful. Please let me know if so, or if you’ve enjoyed watching, by leaving me a comment below. It always gives me a lift when I hear from you.

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8 Comments

  1. Carmen on June 17, 2025 at 4:46 pm

    Puedes enviar la plantilla del dibujo

  2. Penny on June 17, 2025 at 5:27 pm

    The painting is lovely.Thank you.

  3. Nanette on June 17, 2025 at 10:56 pm

    What can I say? It is just amazingly beautiful.

  4. Fanou on June 18, 2025 at 9:24 am

    merci pour cette démonstration en Français!

  5. Joan Farne on June 19, 2025 at 12:01 am

    Hi Anna,
    I am a new and recent subscriber. I am so happy to have stumbled upon your page. I have read all your stories which you have shared and I admire you.
    I cannot paint but watching you I feel that maybe one day i too maybe able to put the brush to paper and paint.
    Do you have any advice for a beginner like me?

    Looking forward to hearing from you.
    Joan

    • Anna Mason on July 11, 2025 at 1:17 pm

      Hello Joan, sorry I missed your message before.

      What an exciting point in your creative journey you’re at! You’re in the right place to grow your painting skills. My main advice would be to focus on learning the process, and not fixate on your results yet. Those will follow. Adopt a growth mindset and know that every brushstroke you make will lead to learning. Skills can be built very quickly and it’s never too late to start.

      If you choose to join Nature Studio, I can walk you through every step to grow your skills and confidence. We welcome absolute beginners, so if you feel you’d like to join please don’t feel you need to wait. You might like to look at the stories on this page to see how members have transformed their skills: https://www.naturestudio.com/member-transformations/

      If you believe in yourself and follow the right steps, you will get to where you want to be. Good luck x

  6. amanda stacey on June 26, 2025 at 8:12 am

    Hi, i have tried to get the pears workshop delivered to my email but it never seems to come through. I’ve tried several times.

    • Anna Mason on July 11, 2025 at 1:10 pm

      Hi Amanda, sorry to hear this. I’ve asked my team to email you with the link. I hope you enjoy painting the pear soon!

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