Spring’s Gentle Stirring
A watercolor tutorial (guided with my voice this week) and a few prompts for the season of becoming. I hope your spring is unfolding gently…
As the first true days of spring unfold, I find myself drawn to softness: unfurling greens, early blooms, and the delicate motion of wings. This week’s painting invites you to sit with that tender energy—where growth happens not in haste, but in quiet layers. Where butterflies and wildflowers meet in a dance of becoming.
Below you’ll find a simple watercolor tutorial to guide you through this week’s composition, a reflection on the symbolic nature of the butterfly, and a few journal prompts to deepen your connection to the season.
*I added light music to the background with my voice. Let me know what you think!
To get started draw your flowers, grasses butterflies and more lightly in pencil.
What You’ll Need:
Watercolor paper
Watercolors (suggested: yellows, oranges, reds, magenta, purples, greens, turquoise, and browns)
Round brushes (medium + small)
Clean water, palette, and a paper towel
Step-by-Step Painting
1. Begin with the Greens
With fluid strokes, paint vertical leaf shapes and sprigs using a mix of green, yellow, and turquoise.
Vary the pressure to create different textures, letting water move the pigment naturally.
Allow the paint to dry slightly before adding more details to maintain clarity between layers.
2. Paint the Wildflowers
Use a medium brush to shape the yellow bloom with loose, open petals.
For the lavender flower, dab upward in thin strokes to suggest texture. Let the color bloom gently into the paper.
Add other green stems and leafy accents for movement and fullness.
3. Add the Butterflies
For the orange butterfly, start with bright yellow-orange on the top wings, blending into a deeper red-orange on the bottom. A hint of dark brown anchors the body.
The purple butterfly uses magenta blended into a plum shade. Soften the wings’ edges with water and anchor with a delicate brown body.
Use a detail brush or the very tip of a small round brush for antennae.
4. Layer and Refine
Once dry, add depth with richer tones: deeper greens in the stems, shadows in the butterfly wings.
Leave a few white spaces as highlights and breathing room.
5. Optional Final Touches
Flick a tiny bit of green or gold paint for pollen or sunlight speckles.
Don’t overwork—this piece is about subtle movement and balance.
The Butterfly’s Whisper
The butterfly is a quiet teacher.
Not loud in its transformation, but persistent in its becoming.
In a spiritual, earth-centered sense, the butterfly reminds us that change doesn’t need to be immediate or grand to be meaningful. It asks us to honor the phases of rest, the moments of cocooning, and the beauty of emergence.
Butterflies move us toward:
Embracing impermanence
Releasing what we’ve outgrown
Honoring our own timing
Letting beauty come through vulnerability
To paint a butterfly is to sit in conversation with your own cycles of change.
Journal Prompts for Spring’s Stirring
What part of me is gently unfolding right now?
Where do I feel called to soften or let go?
What does “emergence” mean to me this season?
In what ways can I honor my own pace of becoming?
Let yourself write slowly, or even answer these prompts in paint or movement if words feel far away.
Wishing you softness, color, and tiny, beautiful shifts—
Until next time,
See more tutorials on Brush and Lens!
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