Painting Guide: Ferns

I love finding odd things in the garden. Ferns are wonderful--aside from the beautiful visual texture they add, they are also great bioindicators of a healthy ecosystem! They reflect that moisture, air, and soil quality are favorable conditions for life and habitation.

I was inspired by these garden ferns to create illustrations for our DTI Go Lokal home collection. Now, I'm back to drawing ferns for a new watercolor kit for Mt. Camisong in Itogon, Benguet!

The Ferns Watercolor Activity Kit by Life After Breakfast contains:

• Mini Handmade Watercolors in a Ceramic Palette
• Wooden Watercolor Brush
• Water Cup & Pipette
• Tissue for Blotting
• 4 Watercolor Cards with Fern Illustrations

https://lifeafterbreakfast.ph/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Watercolor-Process-Mushrooms-and-Ferns.mp4

Here's a quick painting process video that I did for an online painting session before, of mushrooms and ferns.

You can choose to paint with a single color, or mix 2 different greens together.

You can deepen the green hue by adding the complimentary color, red/pink to create a darker shade.

The goal is to create values of highlights, midtones, and shadows.

Adding a harmonious color like blue or yellow to the green midtones will make the colors look more interesting,

Deepening the shadows will make the artwork more vibrant.

To start painting, apply pigment on one side of a leaf. Dilute the middle part with water (keep the heavy pigment in place).

Then clean your brush by patting it on the tissue.

Fill the shape with water from the opposite edge moving towards the center.

Let this gradient dry before painting on anything next to it.

Repeat the process with the other leaves. Find calm in the meditative repetition. :)