Painting flowers in acrylic is one of the most joyful and approachable ways to improve your skills as an artist - whether you're just starting out or looking to expand your technique. In this tutorial, I’ll walk you through the essentials of painting florals in acrylic, from choosing your subject and sketching your composition to layering color and creating depth.
If you're searching for a complete guide on how to paint flowers in acrylic, you’re in the right place. I’ve created free YouTube tutorials that demonstrate everything I’ll cover here, along with a full 7.5 hour course for those who want to dive deeper into the process and explore more complex floral compositions.
Why Acrylic Is Perfect for Painting Flowers
Acrylic paint is fast-drying, versatile, and forgiving—making it a fantastic medium for floral painting. You can work quickly in layers, easily adjust your colors, and experiment with bold or delicate brushwork. Unlike oils, which require longer drying times, acrylics allow you to build depth and vibrancy in a single sitting.
The painting below was created for my course, and involves two full layers of paint to create those soft, airy petals. This means you have to have patience (and a little bit of faith!) but soft blends are achievable, even with acrylics:
Step-by-Step Guide: How to Paint Flowers in Acrylic
1. Choose Your Subject and Reference
Start with a flower that inspires you. I often recommend beginning with a simple bloom - like a daisy or iris - because their form reads well even with loose brushwork. Use high-quality photo references or fresh flowers arranged in indirect natural light. You can check out places such as Unsplash or Facebook groups dedicated to reference photos for copyright free images.
You can certainly get ambitious and try more complicated petals, such as roses or peonies, but if you're brand new to flowers, aim for simple petals, or isolate your subject's petals as a study.
2. Sketch Your Composition Lightly
Use a neutral-toned canvas and sketch your flower with a soft colored pencil or thinned acrylic paint. Keep the sketch simple, focusing on major shapes rather than fine details. I prefer using a colored pencil vs. graphite, because graphite will leech into your paints and turn your soft tones grey. If you are going to use graphite, make sure you seal it with a fixative spray before painting on top.
3. Block in Your Base Colors
Begin with thin layers of paint to establish your main colors. Use larger brushes at this stage and work from large shapes to smaller details. Don’t worry about getting everything perfect...this is where you establish your foundation.
4. Add Depth Through Layers
Once your base is dry, start building up color and detail using multiple layers. Acrylics dry darker than they appear when wet, so it’s often helpful to mix your colors a touch lighter than you think you need.
Use a combination of opaque and transparent layers to create dimension. I cover this technique in greater detail in my full acrylic flower painting course, where I demonstrate how to build petals that glow with natural light.
5. Refine Edges and Details
Use a smaller brush to add highlights, deepen shadows, and define petal edges. This is where your painting starts to come to life. Keep your edges varied - some soft and blended, others sharp - to guide the viewer’s eye and add realism.
6. Final Touches
Step back from your painting and assess the composition. Does your focal flower pop? Is the color harmony working? Make any final adjustments to unify your piece.
Watch the Process: Free Acrylic Flower Painting Tutorials
If you’d like to follow along with me in real time, I’ve created two free video tutorials on YouTube:
These videos walk through the exact steps I use in my own paintings and give you a behind-the-scenes look at how I build layers, mix colors, and create expressive floral forms.
Take It Further: My Full Acrylic Floral Course
If you’re ready to go deeper, I also offer a comprehensive course that teaches you everything you need to know about painting flowers in acrylic—from materials and composition to brushwork, layering, and finishing techniques.
It’s designed for both beginners and intermediate painters, with detailed pre-recorded video demos, downloadable reference images, and lifetime access to the content. Learn more here.
FAQ: How to Paint Flowers in Acrylic
What are the best acrylic paints for painting flowers?
Look for artist-grade acrylics with high pigment load and smooth consistency. Brands like Golden, Liquitex, and Winsor & Newton perform well. For beginners, a limited palette of primary colors plus white and a few earth tones is a great place to start. I like to use a split primary palette - a cool and a warm version of each primary color.
Do I need to use a medium with my acrylics?
Not necessarily. Acrylics work well with just water, especially in the early layers. However, using a glazing or retarder medium can extend drying time and improve blending, especially helpful when building petals and subtle transitions. I personally like to use a little bit of matte medium when I need to adjust my consistency.
Should I work from dark to light or light to dark?
Both approaches can work, but I often recommend working from dark to light in floral painting. This helps you establish the form and depth before layering lighter highlights on top. Dark colors also tend to be streaky, so the more layers you add, the better, so it's best to get those initial shadows in as quickly as possible.
How do I make my flower petals look soft and realistic?
Use soft brushes and blend edges selectively. Don’t over-blend; a few crisp lines paired with soft transitions give a much more natural look than fully blended petals. You can also lean into the fact that acrylics dry quickly, and use optical blending with multiple soft layers stacked on top of each other. Instead of blending the edges together wet into wet, you can put a soft, buffed layer on top of the previous dried layer to create the illusion of blended colors.
Can I use black paint to darken my colors?
It's better to use complementary colors or mix in deep tones like burnt umber or ultramarine blue to create rich shadows. Straight black can make your colors look flat and muddy, since blacks absorb light and create dull greys.
How do I stop my acrylics from drying too quickly?
Work in thin layers and use a stay-wet palette or mist your paints with water regularly. You can also add a slow-drying medium to keep the paint workable for longer. I use a homemade wet palette with an artist butcher's tray. I add 2-3 layers of paper towel to the tray, soak it with water, and place a piece of wax paper or parchment paper on top.
Final Thoughts
Learning how to paint flowers in acrylic is a rewarding journey. With practice, patience, and the right guidance, you'll be amazed by the depth and vibrancy you can achieve - especially with a limited palette and just a few brushes.
Whether you're painting from life or photos, the most important thing is to enjoy the process. I encourage you to try one of my free tutorials - or explore the full course if you're ready to take your skills to the next level.
Happy painting!
🔗 Explore More Tutorials & Tips
• How to Paint on Paper with Acrylic – Full Painting Tutorial
Ideal for artists wanting to try florals—or any subject—on paper, with step-by-step guidance and a YouTube demo
• Color Mixing with Acrylic: Why It’s So Hard (and How to Finally Get It)
A must-read if you struggle with muddy or dull colors—this post (and course) is perfect for floral painting palettes
• 3 Tips for Painting Realistic Flowers in Acrylic
Quick actionable advice for making petals look more natural—great supplemental content for your main tutorial
✅ Boost Your Painting Skills
Painting Flowers in Acrylic Course
Take your floral practice further with my comprehensive course - deep dives on painting peonies, brushwork, color layers, and more.
Color Mixing with Acrylic Course
67 lessons, 15 hours, entirely hands-on and pre-recorded so you can work at your own pace.
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