The grace and beauty of butterflies have made them a permanent motif for the paintings of many artists. However, often all attention is given to multi-colored variegated individuals, while butterflies, whose wings are painted in a restrained range, can look expressive in the drawing.
It is necessary
- - paper;
- - a simple pencil;
- - eraser;
- - watercolor;
- - brushes;
- - palette.
Instructions
Step 1
Place your watercolor paper horizontally. With a simple pencil (hardness 2T) sketch out the outlines of the butterfly - the general silhouette. This is necessary in order to correctly position the object in paper space. Leave some "air" around the butterfly: there should be free space between its wings and the edges of the leaf.
Step 2
Draw a central axis for the insect's torso. Please note that it will be tilted from the vertical axis of the sheet to the right by about 30 degrees. Divide the butterfly's torso in two on the sketch. The top will be slightly shorter than the bottom.
Step 3
Draw wings to the upper half of the body. The length and width of the lower wings are approximately the same. The upper ones are more elongated horizontally. Add wavy edges for the wings.
Step 4
Color the butterfly with watercolors. It is this material that will convey the saturation and purity of colors and at the same time will not lose lightness and transparency. Apply the paint using the wet technique. Run a wet, clean brush over the upper left wing of the butterfly. Immediately after that, apply a dark brown color to the base of the wing (near the body), then add indigo and a little aqua color below it. Fill the top with an earthy shade of brown with a touch of green. When the paper is dry, draw a blue wing border and orange spots. Where the wing is white, leave the paper unpainted.
Step 5
Use the same principle to color the upper right wing. Only the colors on it will be more muted, in the lower part, mix blue with brown to get a closed, almost black shade.
Step 6
On the lower wings, use an indigo fading to azure (the paint will mix if you paint on wet paper). At the base and along the "veins" add brown and purple.
Step 7
Mix black, brown and green. Paint over the body of the butterfly with the resulting shade. At the same time, slightly blur the paint on the sides to convey the volume of the insect.
