Art Meets Nature with butterfly art

Use your creativity and expand your techniques with 5 butterfly art tutorials. 

Both seasoned and budding artists can express their creativity, perfect their technique and add imaginative butterfly paintings to their portfolio.

Our butterfly artwork can inspire and fascinate our audiences, just like real butterflies have done throughout the ages.

Learn how to paint butterfly art.You can paint butterflies!
Learn how to paint butterfly art.You can paint butterflies!

starting your butterfly artwork

Before starting on a painting get a good reference. Butterflies don't stay still very long, so we could use mounted butterflies or photos.

Personal photos are best or get copyright free photos on Pixabay.com or Unsplash.com.

#1 start with an easy butterfly

Imagine your butterfly painting, meticulously created under your brush.

A good place to start is this easy watercolor butterfly painting.

First, draw the butterfly with five guided steps. Then paint the Monarch in five steps.

Easy butterfly tutorial of a Monarch Butterfly.Suitable for beginners

#2 the delicate beauty of Butterfly Art

There are so many sizes and colors of butterflies. There are various butterflies throughout the world.

These Black-veined Butterflies are native in Europe. However, when I saw some photos of them, they took my breath away!

They were so light and airy and beautiful. I just had to paint them.

You can paint them with a step-by-step tutorial of the butterflies on thistle flowers.

Painting three white butterflies with watercolor.Delicate butterflies on thistle flowers.

vibrant, captivating butterflies

Butterflies and flowers are naturals to paint together.

Butterflies and flowers are naturals together.Gulf Fritillary on Lantana

The flowers and the underside of this butterfly are not really this brilliant in real life. As artists we can push and pull our paintings to our individual tastes.

If we want to paint imaginative butterflies, instead of realistic ones, DO IT. We have an "artist's license" to paint from our heart and imagination.

Sometimes artists like to try various painting mediums. This butterfly painting is casein paint.

It dries fairly fast and it was easy to use. But its odor was not pleasing to me, so I only used it for three paintings.

The colors are brilliant and durable. For that reason, casein is often used for painting murals.

We can use different painting mediums for our butterfly art.

#3 watercolor butterflies are beautiful

After trying casein, I went back to painting the butterflies with watercolor and oils.

Here, you can paint this stunning butterfly with watercolor.

Paint a butterfly with watercolor.Paint this Tiger Swallowtail step-by-step

The background flowers are imaginative artist's flowers.

Notice the butterfly is painted with hard edges because it is the focal point.

The background flowers have soft edges, so they don't draw attention away from the butterfly. They are violet, the complimentary color of the yellow butterfly.

The contrasting edges and colors make the butterfly the star of the show.

#4 butterfly paintings are timeless

Oil paintings are as timeless as the butterflies.

They are the classic painting medium of the old masters. Oil paintings last for years and years. They can become heirlooms.

Learn the two basic guidelines of oil painting, as you paint this expressive butterfly.

How to paint a butterfly with oil paint.Paint the Malachite Butterfly.

expand your creativity of Butterfly Art

Sometimes we just want to do a whimsical painting and have fun!

This mixed media painting let the imagination free fly.

Learn the mixed media technique of this Awesome Butterfly Painting.

Paint a mixed media butterfly.White Peacock Butterfly

the joy of painting butterflies

This was a fun butterfly painting, too. It's sort of an abstract painting, basically a design.

Keep you eyes open for more butterflies.Sulphurs Puddling

You may have the privilege of seeing groups of butterflies congregated on moist soil. Wet soil allows the minerals to go into solution.

The butterflies are getting the minerals they need. It's called puddling. Here is a group of Sulphur Butterflies puddling.

From the artist viewpoint, notice the butterflies in the front are painted with sharp edges.

The ones at the top of the painting have soft edges to make them appear farther away.

There's no tutorial of this painting. I just wanted to show different examples for your inspiration.

There are numerous types of butterflies we can select for our paintings. There are big butterflies to tiny ones and they come in a wide variety of colors and patterns.

#5 techniques for a mesmerizing butterfly

Learn some watercolor techniques as you paint this butterfly step-by-step.

Learn more techniques of painting watercolor.Paint a realistic longwing butterfly.

paint your butterfly art!

The combination of nature and creativity offers a wonderful opportunity for artists.

Explore and look deeper into the world of painting art on this website. There are many resources waiting to help you create your next painting.

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