easy Paint a Blue Butterfly in acrylics

How to Paint a Blue Butterfly in acrylics – Fast and Easy. A fun whimsical butterfly you can paint one simple stroke at a time in any color you wish. 

Are you ready to paint a blue butterfly in acrylics?   You can use any color you prefer but I used blue as the person this hand painted sign is for loves blue butterflies.

This is an older post moved over from my old site so the video is a bit rough but you get the idea and I hope this tides you over if you have been wanting to paint butterflies.   I have more coming in the future.  

No time now….PIN for later.

Blue butterflies hand painted on a sign, with text overlay, pamelagroppe.com
Blue butterflies painted on a sign

Okay, lets get on with the show…

Sketch on Your Butterfly

Start with your pattern..I have traced this on with graphite paper.  It helps keep me in line if I have a pattern to follow.

Outline of butterfly to be painted

Paint the Wings

Double load the #12 or 3/4″ Flat brush with True Blue and White. (need help with how to load the brush and more basics, go here for instructions) Size of brush is determined by the size of you butterfly.  

I make a scallop stroke…it is the same method as used in my How to Paint Leaves tutorial.

blue and white scallop stroke, pamelagroppe.com
Beginning of a blue butterfly painted in acrylics, pamelagroppe.com

Add another scalloping stroke for the bottom half of the wing.  The edges are a bit streaky but that is because I am painting on paper for the photos, I should’ve used a touch of blending medium to help prevent that.

Paint the Butterfly Body

Now he needs a body. After rinsing your brush load it with Black paint.  Touch, press and pull down. As you pull towards the end let the brush lift back to the chisel edge.

Painting body on blue butterfly in acrylics, pamelagroppe.com

Details

With the same black paint stroke on some little wing decorations… use the same basic stroke just shorter and without the curve.

Adding details to painting blue butterfly, pamelagroppe.com

I like to use odd numbers for the details. We are going for whimsy here and not realism. 

Painting blue butterfly in acrylics, pamelagroppe.com

Now for the antenna…a liner brush with inky paint does a good job.  Inky means the black is slightly watered down.

Adding antennae to blue painted butterfly, pamelagroppe.com

In the video you can see where I also use the liner brush to add a bit of outline to the wings. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A–L4XRiRg

And that is how you paint a blue butterfly in acrylics!

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I wish you Happy Painting!

More Painting Fun
How to Paint Roses
Paint a Beach Scene
Paint Pansies on Glass

Please enjoy and share!

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2 Comments

  1. Happy New Year Pamela,

    I just returned home after attending a wedding in Lincoln Nebraska where they are having an exceptional winter. No snow anywhere, temperate whether and the 4 bridesmaids were outside late at night barefoot in sleeveless long dresses for a few last pictures as the married couple was leaving. They were under the influence of course but outside on January 5th for 15 to 25 minutes is still risky.

    I love the butterfly lesson and the beach as well, and will make a point of trying them out. Out here in Ottawa they had about 2.5 inches of snow on Monday night and rain in the evening on Tuesday Jan 8th the end of the week will be below the freezing mark. Variety is the rule here in the Valley, with 3 to 4 variety of temperature and precipitation within the same week. Never a dull moment.

  2. I love your tutorials. My 87 yr old mother was an artist and still taught classes until her sudden death last year. She did oils, but also some acrylic. I unfortunately thought I was too busy to take art from her routinely. I did a few acrylic classes. Now I long to paint!! Your technique is similar to hers. Thank you for posting and I’m glad I found your work!!

    Beverly Deffenbaugh
    [email protected]

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