Painting Realistic Cherries in Watercolor – Step by Step
In today’s tutorial, I’m painting a trio of rainer cherries and showing you exactly how I build them up from the first sketch to the final details. This project is a wonderful exercise if you’re learning to control water, build up transparent layers, and create realistic textures with watercolor.
Materials I’m Using
For this painting, I’m keeping things simple with just a few supplies:
Paper: Fabriano Artistico hot-pressed 300 gsm
Brushes: A round brush from Opus Art Supply (holds plenty of water and keeps a fine tip) and a small detail brush for small areas.
Paints: A mix of professional-grade watercolor paints in yellows and reds (brands vary)
Other: Kneaded eraser for lightening the sketch
Step 1: Preparing the Paper
I start with a light pencil sketch of the cherries. Using a kneaded eraser, I gently tap the paper to soften any dark lines—this way, the pencil won’t distract from the delicate watercolor layers.
Step 2: First Wash (Wet-on-Wet)
For the first layer, I apply a light glaze of clean water inside the shape of the cherry. Then, I drop in diluted yellow toward the base and red toward the top, letting the colors blend naturally. I also leave a small highlight on the left side to suggest shine.
I repeat this process for all three cherries, allowing each one to dry before painting the next (to avoid unwanted bleeding). For variation, I add a little more red to the third cherry.
Step 3: Building Color (Wet-on-Dry)
Once the first layer is dry, I move on with wet-on-dry. I softly layer yellow over the yellow areas and red over the red, gently blending where they meet. This helps intensify the colors while keeping the layers transparent. I continue adding another round of layers until the cherries look rich and vibrant, always letting each layer dry in between.
Step 4: Painting the Stems
Using a smaller brush, I mix green with a touch of yellow and paint the stems with fine strokes. For the node where the stems meet, I use a wash of yellow ochre, later deepening it with darker tones to give it form.
Step 5: Adding Shadows and Details
Finally, I deepen the shadows in the cherries with a darker red and add stronger accents to the stems. These final touches give the cherries dimension and make them pop off the page.
The Finished Cherries
And there we have it—a trio of realistic watercolor cherries! 🍒 This painting is such a fun way to practice layering and blending, and the result is bright, fresh, and full of summer energy.
If you’d like to watch the full painting process, you can see the tutorial here:
👉 Watch the YouTube Video
✨ Tip: Fruit is a wonderful subject for watercolor practice. Try experimenting with other fruits like blueberries, grapes, or strawberries to build your confidence in blending and color layering.
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