Have you been following the cactus trends? It seems these little prickly plants are popping up everywhere, and not just as actual potted plants. They are really popular on textiles and home decor, too. Now you can learn how to paint a watercolor cactus to decorate your home!
There are several different methods for painting a cactus. You can go totally realistic, abstract or somewhere in between. In this post, I’ll show you how to paint two different types of cactuses in two different semi-abstract styles.
Materials you’ll need for both paintings:
- Watercolor paper
- Watercolor paints
- Drawing pencil
- Medium round paintbrush with fine tip
- Small round brush with fine tip
- Pictures of saguaro and prickly pear cactuses
Wow With Watercolors!
Learn how to paint your best watercolor works.
How to paint a saguaro cactus in watercolor
Step 1: Draw an outline of the cactus shape
Looking at a picture of a saguaro cactus, lightly draw outlines in pencil on a piece of watercolor paper. You may want to layer several cactuses so that cactuses are in behind others, giving your composition more interest. I chose to draw three tall saguaro cactuses, with two in front and one behind.
Step 2: Apply a light wash of watercolor
Using a medium round brush, apply a very light wash with watercolor paints. It’s OK if you leave a little white space here and there. I painted each of my three saguaro cactuses different shades of green to create some interest. Let this first layer of paint dry slightly. Then apply a second layer of paint over the the shadows and darker spots of the cactuses.
Step 3: Add the shadows to create depth
Switch to a smaller round brush. Apply another darker layer of paint to create more depth and accentuate the shadows. Take note of where the light source is coming from and where the highlights and shadows lie. This will help you get the shading in the right spots, but you don’t have to be super accurate with this — it’s not going to be a completely realistic painting. You just want to create some depth by adding shadows. Let dry.
Step 4: Paint the grooves in the cactus
Paint vertical lines and grooves on the cactuses. Starting from the top of each cactus, paint vertical lines down. Make the lines darker on the parts of the cacti that are in shadow and make the lines lighter on the parts that are in the light.
Step 5: Paint the cactus blossoms
Add pink and orange cactus blossoms to the tops of the cacti. Create floral shapes by placing your brush at the top the part of the cactus and working small short strokes upward in a cluster. Remember to keep the blossoms on the cactus in the background lighter than the blossoms on the cactuses in the foreground.
One cactus painting finished! One more to go…
How to paint a prickly pear cactus in watercolor
Step 1: Create the cactus shape by painting ovals
Find a picture of a prickly pear cactus to use as a reference. With a medium round brush, begin from the bottom of your paper and paint oval shapes in clusters as shown below. Vary the shapes and sizes of the oval clusters.
To add depth to your painting, paint lighter colored cactuses in the background and darker colored cactuses in the front. This gives your painting some perspective.
Keep the paint wet as you work so that you don’t end up with hard edges between the different sections of prickly pears. You can also vary the shades of green as you go.
Paint about three quarters of the way up the page. Leave the top section blank.
Step 2: Add the prickly details
Now it’s time to add some prickly pear fruits to the cactuses! Using some reds, yellows, oranges and pinks, paint small oval-shaped fruits on the tops of the cactuses. Use a smaller brush for this step.
Remember to paint the fruit in the background lighter than the fruit in the foreground.
Let dry and you are finished. Now you have two different kinds of watercolor cactus paintings to frame and hang up at home.
Looking for more ways to paint cactus? Try a wax resist technique with crayons and watercolor paints or try your hand at paint by numbers coloring page.
Wow With Watercolors!
Learn how to paint your best watercolor works.
