Painting Bluebells in Oils and Watercolour: Capturing Woodland Light in Two Different Ways
After strolling through my local woodlands over the past month, I found myself exploring bluebell scenes using two very different mediums: oil and watercolour. First came a small alla prima oil study on a cradled panel, followed later by a loose watercolour painting using masking fluid and wet-in-wet techniques.
Walking Through Bluebell Woods in Spring
This year in the UK, we have been gifted with particularly generous displays of bluebells in our woodlands. I’ve read that the colder-than-usual spring weather slowed the bulb growth, allowing the flowers to bloom more synchronously across the woodland floor.
It was truly magical to see the forest carpeted in blue and purple, especially in those moments when sunlight filtered through the fresh green leaves, illuminating this incredible display of colour. As an artist inspired by nature, I felt an irresistible urge to capture the atmosphere of this fleeting season.
Experimenting with Oils on Smooth Gesso Panels
After painting mostly on canvas recently, I really wanted to explore the smooth gesso panels I had ordered from Jackson’s. I bought a pack of ten small panels because I wanted to create smaller, more affordable pieces, but I hadn’t realised quite how smooth these surfaces would be.
I started the way I normally would, by staining the surface with a diluted wash, but straight away it felt completely different. The paint sat on the surface; it didn’t absorb at all. So I wiped it off and started again, this time using thicker paint straight from the tube, without adding solvents or mediums.
Initially it felt a little strange. I had to load my brush quite generously to achieve decent coverage, but once I got used to it, I found the process surprisingly freeing. There was no need to think about solvents or drying times between layers — I could just focus on the paint itself.
What I Enjoyed About the Smooth Surface
It won’t come as a huge surprise when I say that the most enjoyable thing about painting on the panel was how effortlessly the paint glided across the surface. However, I quickly realised I had to resist the temptation to blend.
Once I stopped blending and started placing one brushload of colour next to another, the painting became much more vibrant. Working in this impressionistic way created a loose, almost effortless feel, something I am always striving for in my art practice.
I limited myself to only a few final highlights and details and, before I knew it, the painting was finished.
Returning to Bluebells in Loose Watercolour
After working in oils, I wanted to revisit the same woodland atmosphere in a completely different way — this time using loose watercolour.
Recently, I discovered the work of Nita Engle and was hugely inspired by her approach to letting watercolour do much of the work itself. I immediately ordered her book, How to Make a Watercolor Paint Itself, from a second-hand bookshop and devoured it in one sitting.
In the book, Nita demonstrates a variety of techniques including spraying, resisting, pouring, and even throwing paint onto the paper. Her work is wonderfully expressive and full of energy.
Inspired by her approach, I decided to experiment with some of these techniques in my own bluebell painting. I used masking fluid to preserve the shapes of the foreground flowers and adapted her “six-way wash” technique to create a sense of luminosity in the upper part of the painting.
I began with soft washes of yellow and green in the background, followed by a band of diluted purple to suggest distant bluebells. Gradually, I built up darker layers in the foreground, adding grasses, leaves, and texture. Finally, I revealed the preserved white shapes of a few selected flowers and fern fronds, glazing them with delicate colour so they blended naturally into the scene.
Watch the Full Watercolour Painting Process
I also filmed the full watercolour process if you’d like to paint along or simply enjoy a quiet spring painting session:
Oils vs Watercolour — Two Different Ways of Capturing Atmosphere
You may wonder how these two very different mediums compare.
With the oil painting, I had to be much more deliberate with my brushstrokes and simplify the scene considerably. I kept blending to a minimum to avoid muddy colours and instead focused on placing confident marks of colour next to one another.
The results appeared almost instantly, and the process of laying buttery paint onto the smooth panel was incredibly satisfying. I could work quickly and focus on capturing the feeling of the woodland rather than every individual flower and twig.
With the watercolour study, I allowed myself to loosen up even more. Working wet-in-wet meant I didn’t have to worry about every brushstroke. Instead, I focused on the larger washes first and gradually built layers of colour and texture over the top.
The process felt more intuitive and spontaneous, although the final result emerged much later in the painting compared to the oils.
Why I Keep Returning to Bluebells
Every year I find myself returning to bluebells. They are truly irresistible and provide endless inspiration for someone who loves nature as much as I do.
I think revisiting the same subjects year after year allows me to slow down and appreciate each season more deeply. Exploring bluebells through two of my favourite mediums was not only educational but also immensely satisfying.
Perhaps that is one of the joys of painting nature — even when the subject remains the same, there is always something new to discover.