How to paint flowers in gouache with Becki Clark

Becki says: "I used gouache paint to create this pattern. You could apply the same principles with most paints, however, gouache will give you the lovely opaque effect.

"Another good tip is to not be overwhelmed and see your florals as shapes taking them one step at a time."

Read on to find out how to create this beautiful pattern at home.

How to paint flowers using gouache step by step

Add curved lines that extend from the flowers, you will add leaves to these to paint foliage.

Add leaves to the lines by making small strokes, you can also add depth to the large florals by adding lines in a darker shade in the circles.

Paint small yellow dots in a pyramid format, working your way up to the point of one dot. This will act as the top of the floral.

Add small blue floral heads, these are made of the same shapes as the leaves to keep it simple.

Add green stalk lines to your yellow and blue florals. You can also add details onto the florals now. With the large pink flowers fill the small circle in the middle with yellow. Add small paint strokes to your foliage with simple lines to create depth.

Becki's top tips for painting with gouache for beginners

Brush up your gouache painting skills with Becki's expert advice…

1. Break your design down into shapes – it's less intimidating.
2. Choose your colour palette before you start, decide a couple of colours that work well together and then if you want more variety you can use hues of these colours to keep it all looking consistent.
3. Invest in your materials. For years I have been using old gouache paints until the other month when I treated myself to a new pack and it makes such a difference, I feel like a new painter with these lovely opaque vibrant colours.
4. If you’re not completely comfortable with painting straight on to your paper then try sketching out your ideas first, this way you can play with the placement shapes and sizes before you commit to the painting.
5. Simple dots and brush strokes work well for fillers in repeat patterns, if you feel like your painting is looking a little empty try using one of the colours from your palette and add some dots around the elements.
6. Experiment with different paints. It's easy to enjoy working with a type of paint and not try anything else! For years I only worked in watercolour, but after trying out gouache I now like to mix working between the two.