How to Paint Poppies - A Beginner's Guide to Botanical Painting

Paint poppies with me in oil or acrylic on paper in this flower sketchbook tutorial! In this latest video in my botanical sketchbook series, I'll take you through the process of drawing, toning the pages, and painting onto paper using either oil or acrylic to create a vintage sketchbook spread of poppies. If you're curious if you can paint on paper with oil, the answer is an absolute yes, but you just need to prime the pages with shellac first.

Materials used in this tutorial (please note that these are affiliate links and I earn a small commission from every product sold):

Please note: as an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases

Unsplash Reference Photos:

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:35 Adding the Drawing
02:44 Adding the Writing
03:46 Toning the Pages
05:11 Sealing the Pages with Shellac
05:51 Adding the Paint
08:57 Layering Metallic Text

[MarianneVanderDussen]

Don't forget to use the code, and happy painting!

[Classicartist]

Art is a ethical philosophy, and that is why you are an artist and a good philosopher🙂

[ageofgrifter]

the juxtaposition of the background and vibrant poppies looks fantastic ❤❤❤

[lucillecanesa]

Simply Beautiful!!! Thank you for sharing.

[SabineLeppanen_Art]

Another gorgeous spread, Marianne! The vibrant reds are luscious❤

[KimsPaintings]

The flowers have become special and beautiful.🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

[amandareynolds]

I just stumbled into you and I love it!
You have such a lovely voice. I love your style - it speaks to me and encourages me to continue my art journey. I found you while looking for studio organization and inspiration. My space is a war zone and my children often go in and destroy my work or supplies. It's put me into a terrible mindset, because it's more of a challenge to make art than a joy. I plan to rip the room apart this weekend and completely redo it so I have a peaceful place to do something I love.

[lmiller]

This is absolutely beautiful and really fascinating to see how you work with oils in a sketchbook ☺️🖤

[Rachel-svpq]

Lots of great techniques that I'm going to borrow. Thanks for the inspiration!

[Novaturient]

So beautiful! Your work awakens love and wonderful feelings in me, every time. I enjoy your videos, I watch them with a smile.

[sidrashirazi]

Super stunning you’re so inspiring Marianne

[janinafisher]

Thanks for this, Marianne. I did my own version of the lily-of-the-valley painting because I thought the style would suit my home, and I could do a flower series in this style. I then did one of hollyhocks, since they are in my garden and I just love them. The poppies are just stunning, and so perfectly in time for Remembrance Day! I am going to do a third one for my series, but haven't decided what flower I will choose next, but I really enjoyed trying this process, and the old-style gilded look of the background on these!

[erikaweihmayer]

Absolutely love it! Your sketchbook videos are so inspiring!!! Can’t wait until the next one!

[bilalpazarl]

Yine harika bir çalışma elinize sağlık. Bu defter bitti mi bilmiyorum, bittiyse paha biçilemez bir eser olmuştur.

[amypak]

How long does it take for the pages to dry before you can close the book? And do you find you need to varnish the pages eventually? I’m just getting started with (water miscible) oil paints, and soaking up all the information I can! But I love sketchbooks so I’m hoping to combine oils into sketchbooks, but the drying time is still a mystery to me! Any tips on that?

[AshB_Watercolors]

You should make these a monthly Patreon tutorials, one for botanicals and the other for birds, etc. I would def join! Just a thought!

uh! those kinds of painting techniques!!!rampant in europe!

[C.C.]

There are really no "best" sketchbooks. It all depends on your purpose. If you need coarse textures because of the desired effect, coarse texture paper it is.