These watercolor butterfly painting ideas are just beautiful. Now that spring is here, I find myself wanting to paint objects in nature, such as butterflies, flowers, and birds.
I love using real objects for my painting references; however, when that’s not possible, using pictures or being inspired by painting references can also be a great inspiration.
Recommended Reading: How To Watercolor Paint For Beginners
Worksheets I Use to Practice Watercolor
- Watercolor Success in 4 Steps: This book features 150 easy watercolor painting projects including flowers, fruits and veggies, animals, and more.
- How to Draw Flowers: Learn how to easily draw flowers with these printable worksheets.
1. Monarch Butterfly

If you love the monarch butterfly, you’ll love this simple watercolor painting of this beautiful butterfly. This is a great butterfly painting reference.
2. Wing Close-Up

Here’s an up-close picture of a butterfly wing. You can watch a full video tutorial for painting this butterfly from Blushed Design.
3. Watercolor Butterfly

I really love the gold lines that were added to this painting. Make sure you check out the artist to see more paintings.
4. Lots of Butterflies

This painting is so fun and colorful. I think that this would look great framed and hung on your wall.
5. Emerald Butterfly

I love the colors that were chosen for this painting. In case you’re wondering, this is a painting of a large emerald butterfly.
6. Background Flowers

This painting is insanely detailed, and I love the addition of the floral tree in the background.
7. Feathers, Mushrooms, and More

I adore the color palette that was chosen for this painting. A painting like this would make a great gift.
8. Floral Wing

This butterfly painting is so creative and unique. This butterfly would look great using different colors too.
9. Monarch on Flower

I just love how it looks like the butterfly is standing on top of the flower. Check out Kateryna Savchenko to see a video of the making of the painting.
10. Butterfly Wallpaper

This is actually a gorgeous butterfly wallpaper (for your home). Make sure you check out the artist to view more wallpaper designs.
11. Shades of Blue

Not only are these butterflies wonderful, I just love the color scheme that was chosen for them.
12. Blue and Yellow

This painting is actually a custom order. The finished painting came out so beautiful.
13. Creative with Watercolor

What a beautiful watercolor butterfly painting. I love the unique style of this artist.
14. Brown Stripes

This is the painting that I shared above but without the floral background. Again, I find this to be such a stunning painting.
15. Elegant Butterflies

These butterflies are so creative and elegant. I love the art style used in this painting.
16. How to Paint a Butterfly

Here’s a great tutorial that shows you how to easily draw and paint your own simple butterfly.
17. Different Angles

If you’re looking for a simple butterfly reference, I think you’ll love this painting that shows a butterfly from different angles.
18. Blue and Gold Butterfly

I love the colors used to paint this beautiful blue and gold butterfly. This butterfly has a lot of detail, so this is definitely more of an advanced painting.
19. Butterflies and a House

Not only does this painting feature beautiful butterflies, but it also includes a cute little house where the butterflies appear to be coming from the chimney.
20. Three-Step Butterfly Painting Tutorial

Learn how to paint this beautiful purple and black butterfly in three easy steps with this simple tutorial.
If you’re looking for some beautiful watercolor painting ideas, butterflies are a great place to start.
Their delicate wings and bright colors make them the perfect subject matter for any painter. Try out these techniques and see how your paintings turn out.
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