How to paint a realistic white Magnolia flower in watercolour

White Magnolia flowers (this one is from Magnolia Stellata) are such symbols of early spring.

They have such beautifully detailed centres and their petals have an almost waxy texture.

White can be a challenge with watercolour as you use the paper colour as our ‘white’ rather than using white paint.

So there’s a pressure not to take those petals too dark with the grey we use for shadows.

Here I show you the process of painting a white magnolia flower so you get a realistic result:

I hope this inspires you to try painting a magnolia this weekend!

To paint the blue sky background (it’s easier than you think), see my video here.

Happy painting,