Paint a rose with watercolors and a black resist medium to create gorgeous faux stained glass rose art, as shown in the how-to photographs below. (First published on April 11, 2018, this post is updated and republished to stay current.)
Here’s a fun watercolor rose painting idea for kids, teens, and adults. This easy step-by-step tutorial will teach you how to paint a rose with watercolors and a black resist medium to create gorgeous faux-stained glass art. Painting a watercolor rose bloom is a fun and easy flower painting art project for kids, teens, and adults. Look at this list of fun and easy flower art projects for more flower art ideas.
The rose watercolor painting instructions below include; 1) how to use a black colored resist medium to create faux stained glass rose art, 2) how to make black glue, and 3) basic beginning watercolor techniques to help you learn how to paint a rose with watercolors. You might also enjoy this sunflower art template that you can color, or paint, and make into a flower crown!
Rose Art Watercolor Painting Idea
Invite your children to paint a watercolor rose, and join the fun! I had as much fun painting a watercolor rose as my 4-year-old daughter. Put completed rose art in a frame for an easy gift idea for mom, grandma, or your child’s favorite teacher. Or, try any one of these homemade gift ideas kids can make. You might also enjoy this list of gifts for mom you can buy.
How to Paint Faux-Stained Glass, Rose Art
Before starting your watercolor rose painting, read through the instructions below and allow each painter to decide on the type of resist medium they would like to use; black glue, black oil pastel, or black crayon. If you want to use black glue, follow the how-to instructions in the next section to make it–you can’t get it wrong!
But if you use a black oil pastel or crayon, you can skip learning how to make black glue and move on to the step-by-step directions to paint rose art. Creating and using black glue will require allowing the black glue to dry before painting a rose, so consider that before starting your rose painting. Decide on the art supplies you would like to use from the watercolor rose art materials listed below.
Related: Real Flower Nature Crafts
Watercolor Rose Art Materials
- Choose a resist medium to work with:
- Black Glue (white glue mixed with black acrylic paint–scroll down for step-by-step instructions to make black glue)
- Black oil pastel
- Black crayon
- Heavyweight cardstock or 140 lb cold press watercolor paper
- Rose art template (optional)
- Choose one of the following types of watercolor paints:
- Paintbrushes
Related: Fun Art and Craft Ideas for Kids
Make Black Glue for Rose Painting or Use A Black Oil Pastel or a Crayon
Skip to the step-by-step directions for painting a rose in the next section if you use a black crayon or a black oil pastel as the resist medium to paint faux stained glass rose art. Otherwise, follow these simple directions to make black glue.
How to Make Black Glue:
- Making black glue is simple, and you don’t need to measure. Add a squirt of black acrylic paint to a bottle of white glue and shake well.
- Because white glue dries clear, you don’t need to add a lot of black acrylic paint to make black glue look black. In other words, black glue will look grey when wet but black after it dries.
- Use a chopstick to help mix the color through the bottle if needed.
- We have a small bottle of what was once white glue dedicated to continually mixing white glue and black acrylic paint into it to make a never-ending supply of black glue. We never measure, and it always turns out fine.
- Add white glue and black acrylic paint to the same bottle to make more when needed.
Related: Fingerprint Flower Glass Magnets Kids Can Make
How to Paint a Rose Watercolor Painting with A Black Resist Medium to Create Faux-Stained Glass Art
Follow the easy steps below to complete this watercolor rose painting project. If you are working with young children, we recommend doing this faux stained glass rose art project in stages over two days.
On the first day, draw or print the rose art template, then trace it with a black resist medium of choice; black glue, black oil pastel, or black crayon. And on the second day, get out the watercolors and invite the children to paint their roses.
If you use black oil pastel or black crayon as the resist medium for painting a rose, you can complete your rose art in one day, as long as everyone has the energy to continue. Remember, children find art much more fun when we make it easy!
1. Draw a rose or download the printable rose art template.
- Use a pencil to sketch or draw a rose on watercolor paper, create several rose sketches on a larger canvas, OR download and print our rose outline template onto watercolor paper or heavy cardstock.
2. Trace the rose art printable template with black glue, oil pastel, or crayon.
- Trace the outline of the rose art with black glue, an oil pastel, or a black crayon. (Scroll up for the directions to make black glue.)
- Older children can do this step independently, while preschoolers and kindergarteners may need some assistance.
- It’s best to allow black glue to dry overnight if you use it for this rose art watercolor painting project.
3. Paint the rose with watercolor paints.
- When the black glue rose art outline is completely dry, invite children to use watercolors to paint a watercolor rose.
- The black glue, crayon, or oil pastel will resist the watercolor paint and give it the appearance of stained glass–aren’t they gorgeous?!
Related: Starfish Black Glue Watercolor Resist Art
Rose Watercolor Art Process and Tips
I thought it might be helpful to share how my daughter and I painted roses with watercolors. Read through the rose watercolor painting tips below to learn more about creating rose art, and working with children.
First, I printed out and traced two roses with black glue the night before introducing this watercolor art project to my daughter. Next, I traced two rose printables with black glue so that I could paint a rose with watercolors, too!
Because my daughter has had a lot of experience working with wet-on-wet watercolors as a student of Waldorf education, I decided to let her give this project a go without demonstrating it first. I was curious to see her process without my influence, so I told her I would paint mine after her. But if your kids or students have never worked with watercolors, I recommend that you prepare at least one extra rose to demonstrate how to paint it with watercolors before they give it a go.
Show children how to paint while describing your work in simple terms. Young children are imitative creatures and learn best by watching others. (See evidence of this in “Round Two” below.) Either paint the rose petals with watercolor paint individually, or paint over the entire rose with black glue. The black glue will resist the watercolor paint if it does not get soaking wet. However, if it gets too wet, a little black will pull into the painting, so use water sparingly.
My daughter loves pink, so she painted a rose with light and dark pink watercolor paint and light green for the background. I told her a color story about a rosebud that longed to be bright and colorful, and away she went. For more information about how to tell an optional “color story,” read the how-to instructions in single-color wet-on-wet watercolor painting.
Related: Starfish Watercolor Art
Faux Stained Glass Watercolor Rose Painting: Process Continued
Because I took pictures of my daughter painting, she wanted to take pictures of me painting rose art so she could take photos of me. Children love to imitate what they see the adults around them doing.
I decided to paint a rose with yellow cadmium, orange, and magenta watercolor paint, and my daughter took the photos in the image below as I worked. I was so impressed with my daughter’s pictures of my yellow rose watercolor painting that I wanted to show her how much I valued her work. So, I included her photos in the photo collage below.
In the watercolor rose art photo tutorial below, you can see how to lay the watercolor paints from the center of the rose to each petal edge by layering them on top of each other and allowing them to mix and blend to create deeper dimensions in each rose petal. But painting a watercolor rose is a perfectly imperfect art form.
The key to painting a rose with watercolors is to go with the flow. You want to work with how the watercolor paint flows instead of against the watercolors’ natural flow. In other worlds, use more or less water to help the colors mix, blend, layer, or flow. But know that watercolors have a mind of their own. So either use what they do as part of your art, a beautiful oops, or an exercise in mindfulness. Even better–do both!
Related: Four-Season Hand and Fingerprint Tree
Related: Art and Science Experiment with Watercolor Resist
Watercolor Rose Painting Project: Round Two
My daughter loved this rose painting project so much that she begged me to print more roses to paint with watercolors, so I did! I was amazed at what happened.
A few days after her first watercolor rose painting, she painted two more roses with different colors of watercolor paints. Even though she had watched me paint a rose with watercolor a few days prior, I could see the influence that observing my work had on her rose art painting.
This time I watched her start to paint a rose with her flat wash watercolor brush. Next, she painted a beautiful rose with a smaller watercolor brush, just as I did.
And–wait for it–she began layering the watercolors and using water in the same way she saw me paint rose art to create added demensions in her rose artwork. Amazing yet true, and perfectly normal, too! As I mentioned above, children learn best by watching others. I did not instruct her at all, and I didn’t give her one tip or even a tiny bit of advice.
She watched me paint a watercolor rose, took photos, and learned! Monkey watch, monkey learn, monkey see, monkey do! Look at the amazing pink and blue rose and the gorgeous pink and red rose she painted below using her new watercolor layering and blending skills. Look at how beautifully the colors blend near the center of the rose.
Watercolor Painting Tip
When using a single color, such as the red my daughter is demonstrating in these photographs, use more or less water to create light and dark areas or deminsions that almost look like they are different shades of color–such as the lighter pink she is creating in the photograph above. The final version of the rose painted with red watercolors is in the photograph below.
Related: Easy Felt Flowers with Twig Stems
Watercolor Rose Painting with Black Glue Resist
A black glue rose is too gorgeous to stash away or sneak into the round file known as the trash can. This artwork would look fantastic framed and hung in the home or given away as a gift.
My daughter can’t wait to give the black glue roses she painted for each of her grandmothers for Mother’s Day! You may also like these cute fingerprint flower glass magnets and this collection of amazing homemade gifts kids can make.
Or, make a paper flower crown with a gorgeous sunflower tiara with this fun sunflower crown coloring page printable.
Learn more about Rhythms of Play HERE!
More Black Glue Watercolor Resist Art Projects
If you like working with black glue, you may be interested in some other art projects on the list below. Click on the title to see the full tutorial for each art project.
- Winter Tree Black Glue Watercolor Resist Art
- Under the Sea Black Glue Watercolor Resist Art Projects
- Starfish Black Glue Resist Art Project
- Fall Leaves Black Glue Watercolor Resist Art Project
Popular Art Ideas for Kids
- Best Flower Art Projects for Kids
- Rainbow Rainy Day Art
- Heart Art Projects (and Cute Heart Crafts, Too!)
- Four Season Handprint and Fingerprint Tree
- Heart Art Salt Painting
- Best Fall Art Projects
- Rainbow Shamrock Art Project
- Rainbow Art Projects Kids LOVE!
- Surprise Watercolor Heart Art
- Best Winter Art Projects
Holiday Art Projects for Kids
- Valentine’s Day Art Projects
- Saint Patrick’s Day Arts and Crafts
- Easter Art Projects for kids
- Halloween Art Projects for Kids
- Christmas Art Ideas for Kids
Sally Samuel says
Hi there Nell!
This is a gorgeous project that I am interested in trying out with the kids in my Library programs. While there is lots of rose clip-art online, I really like the one you used. Do you have link to where you found it? Or know where the image can be downloaded? I would be so incredibly thankful if you could help!
Thanks so much for posting this,
Sally
nell says
Hi Sally! So glad you like the project and the rose I used. Creating my own printable is on a very long list of to-dos. I will move it up in priority and do my best to get to it in the next day or two.
Sally Samuel says
Oh! I didn’t realize you made it yourself. Nell, I would be deeply grateful if I could receive a copy – whenever you are able to. If it is easier, my email is sally.samuel@wbrl.ca. Thanks so very, very much!!
nell says
Okay, Sally, I have edited the post to include a link to a free rose template that you may use for personal use only. You may copy them for students to use, but they may not be distributed. Enjoy! 🙂
Sally Samuel says
THANK YOU, Nell! You are amazing!!!!!!!! 🙂
nell says
Awww, gee, thanks… blushing 🙂
Laura says
I printed the template and put the black glue on and let it dry overnight. When I put watercolor on, black started running into the paint. Any ideas on what might be causing this? Thanks so much.
Nell Regan M.A. says
Hi Laura,
I’m sorry that happened to you! Let’s troubleshoot what may have caused your rose watercolor painting to run black. My guess is either that the black glue was not completely dry (even though you waited overnight), or you may have used a bit too much black acrylic paint mixed into the white glue. The most exciting thing about making black glue is that you only need a little bit of black acrylic paint. The glue will always appear black when it dries because white glue dries clear. My suggestion is to make another batch of black glue or add a bunch of white glue to the solution you already made and try it again. I promise it works!
Nell