I've been itching to watercolor the unassuming, beautiful little wild pansy for quite a while. My first try failed. I discovered that painting the colors in the right order is key. This tutorial shows you a few simple steps to watercolor wild pansies.
I recorded the whole painting process on video. Level Up members can use the video to paint along with me. They can also download and trace my line drawing of the pansy.
The free One Tree Art Club has line drawings for many tutorials on this blog.
Wild pansy is a hardy flower. From early summer to mid-September, it has decorated the roadside of my morning walks. And it kept popping up in my garden. Little did I know it has amazing qualities beyond beauty. Read on.
The mythology of wild pansies
Since long before garden pansies were cultivated, wild pansies have held a strong position as a love potion. One of its many names is love-in-idleness, and Cupid´s arrows contain the potion. Shakespeare made it a key ingredient in "A Midsummer Night's Dream". In the comedy, the love potion wreaks havoc beyond the ability of both fairies and mortals to control.
Pansy is called pensée in French, which means thought. In the language of flowers, pansy is also associated with thinking. Read more about the symbolism of pansy.
Pansy must be on top of the list of flowers with many names. Here it comes: Johnny Jump up, heartsease, heart's ease, heart's delight, tickle-my-fancy, Jack-jump-up-and-kiss-me, come-and-cuddle-me, three faces in a hood, love-in-idleness, and pink of my john. Phuhh! Viola Tricolor is the Latin name.
Medicinal use of Viola Tricolor
Pansy has a mind-boggling list of medicinal qualities. You can also eat it in your salad. Drug companies extract certain compounds, and research is being done for cancer medicine. The healing properties relate to cardiovascular conditions, epilepsy, skin diseases, burns, eczema, bronchitis, asthma, and colds. It is also anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressant. And more!
Pansies have been important in traditional herbal medicine for a very long time, especially in Iranian, Greco-Arab, Ayurvedic, and Unani (Arabian) healing systems.
How to watercolor a wild pansy
Let´s get going with painting this little miracle flower.
Step 1: Watercolor the yellow heart of the flower
You should paint the yellow first and let it dry. Otherwise, the colors on the flower become a mess. Paint the flower with plain water first. Then, start painting with plain yellow. Add some pink or orange to make a deep yellow at the center. Soak up pigments with a sponge to smooth the edges.
Step 2: Watercolor leaves and stems
Paint with plain water first. This makes the colors flow nicely. You don´t need to mix green colors in advance. Apply a fresh green first, then add a little blue to get a bluish-green. Be creative.
Step 3: Paint the purple flower petals
Again, paint with plain water first. Go easy when you paint the purple color. My palette does not have a good purple. I mixed strong pink with cobalt blue.
Step 4: Outline the whole plant
I used a hard pencil to outline the plant. My usual dark brown colored pencil would be too strong for this delicate flower. A hard pencil will not smudge.
Step 5: Paint leaf veins with white gouache
With a fine brush, paint the leaf veins with white gouache. I cleaned up stray paint around the flower as well.
Step 6: Spice up the colors with colored pencils
Use colored pencils to add intensity and beauty to your painting. The yellow heart was too pale in my painting. I added detail with a purple pencil, and various greens to make the leaves come alive.
Step 7: Corrections here and there
In my case, I was still not satisfied with the purple petals. They were still too pale.
Step 8: Painting lines on the petals
The last thing I did was to paint the lines radiating from the center. I could not get my brush to paint the lines any thinner. After practicing on a piece of paper, I gave up. Drawing them with a colored pencil was an option I did not try. Another option is to draw with a fine liner.
Finally- all done. Happy painting to you!
To watch the video below, become a One Tree Art Club LEVEL UP member. Paint along with me in real time. As a Level Up member, you can also download line art for all the tutorials on this website.
More watercolor flower tutorials:
How to Watercolor a Purple Iris Flower
Watercolor for Beginners: Blue Flower Tutorial
How to Draw a Sunflower With a Freehand Golden Ratio Spiral
A Breezy, Beautiful Wild Rose Watercolor Tutorial
