Painting a Watercolor Paint a Pumpkin- Easy

Fall brings all kinds of wonderful things, including pumpkin season! Pumpkins are a really fun subject to paint, especially for beginning watercolor painters. Painting a watercolor pumpkin in paint is fairly simple, and can be customized in all kinds of ways! This tutorial will lead you through step by step and there is also a video that will play after an ad in the video player. Even the kids can paint these! For a full video tutorial, we’ll have the Youtube video linked at the end that you can paint along with.

Watercolor painting of a pumpkin next to a paintbrush and a watercolor palette with various colors.

Supplies for Painting a Watercolor Pumpkin

-Watercolor paper

-Watercolor paint in cadmium orange, terra cotta, burnt umber, sap green,Yellow ochre

-No. 6 round brush

-Water

-Paper towel

Some Watercolor Terms to Know:

A (Milk) Wash– A 50/50 mix of water and paint where the paint is more watery, almost like the appearance of milk, but still has a translucent quality

Wet on wet– Painting a wet medium such as watercolor onto a paper surface that is already wet wither with water or wet (not dried ) watercolor paint

Blooming/Bleeding-Both occur when wet paint or water touches an alredy wet are and the paint move into each other. Paint on paint tens to be referred to more as bleeding and water and paint tends to be more referred to as blooming, but many times they are used interchangeably.

Feathering/lifting the edge- When a painted.wet edge has a hard line that needs to be softened. To soften the edge, a barely damp(not wet) brush is brushed a long the edge to dilute extra pigment and also pick it up. This is repeated until the edge has been feathered enough to a desired point. This has to be done while the paint is still wet.

Create an Orange (Milk) Wash

Create a wash of 50/50 mixture of cadmium orange and water. After creating the orange wash, we’ll start painting the pumpkin shape

A paintbrush is drawing a light, oval-shaped outline on white textured paper.

Paint a Long Oval Shape

On the middle of the paper, paint a long oval. Don’t worry about it being perfect. In fact, it’s better if it’s a little uneven and the sides of the oval stick out a little. While the oval is still wet use a slightly damp brush to feather in the edges so they are softened. Keep the middle front open on the oval to create a highlight.

A hand uses a paintbrush to apply light orange watercolor paint in the shape of a pumpkin on textured white paper.

Add Sides to the Watercolor Pumpkin

One each side of the oval, paint two long “C” shapes. One “C” will be backward and the other forward. Feather the edges to the inside, Continue painting “C” shapes, making them smaller as you move to the outer edges of the pumpkin. Continue to feather and lift on any hard edges.

A paintbrush applies light orange watercolor paint in loose strokes on textured white paper.

Add A Darker Orange Watercolor Paint

Use terra cotta paint to paint around the edges of the pumpkin while the orange wash is still wet. Feather as you go and let the paint bleed slightly. Blot up any obvious runs or undesired bleed with paper towel.

A hand uses a paintbrush to apply red watercolor paint to a light peach wash on textured paper. The artist’s signature, “Jennifer Rizzo,” appears in the lower right corner.

Sometimes it helps to flip the paper the pumpkin is on over when painting.

A paintbrush applies light brown watercolor strokes onto textured white paper, creating overlapping shapes.

Add Yellow Ochre

Paint a slightly diluted Yellow Ochre by dotting it onto the pumpkin and let the colors bleed slightly. Blot up any excess.

A paintbrush applies yellow watercolor to a brown and orange pumpkin painting on textured white paper. The name “Jennifer Rizzo” is written in the bottom right corner.

Paint the Pumpkin Stem

Use sap green to paint in the stem shape. To make the stem shape, paint a wider base and a skinnier top.

A hand uses a paintbrush to add green watercolor paint to the stem of an orange pumpkin illustration on textured paper.

While the sap green is still wet, paint burnt umber watercolor paint to the underside and on the base of the stem.

A paintbrush colors the green stem of a watercolor pumpkin on textured paper.

Add Shading to The Pumpkin

Use the burnt umber to add shading to the inside ribs of the pumpkin and to the underside.

Watercolor painting of an orange pumpkin being outlined with a paintbrush on textured paper; the artist’s signature, Jennifer Rizzo, is visible.

Add Any Extra Touch Up

While the pumpkin watercolor paint is still wet, add any extra shadows or remove some paint to create highlights. For a touch of cuteness, add some curly cue tendrils on each side of the stem.

Close-up of a watercolor painting of an orange bell pepper with a green stem on a white background.

A paintbrush adds red shading to a watercolor painting of a bell pepper on textured white paper.

Let the Painting Dry

Before framing or using in a project, let the paint dry completely as it will continue to change slightly as the paint moves and water evaporates. If you liked painting this project, try painting a rustic pumpkin in acrylic paint on canvas!

See the full watercolor pumpkin painting step by step tutorial on our YouTube channel here.