This projects uses a fun technique of drawing right onto wet paper with watercolor pencils. The result is a loose watercolor effect that can be done by students from ages 7 and up!

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1. Choose an area of the photo reference that you would like to draw. (You need not draw the whole thing.) Using the pencil, lightly draw large circles to represent the lily pads.

2. Correct the outline of each lily pad according to the photo reference. Erase any extra lines.

3. If the purple flower is part of your design, draw 2 concentric circles in the spot that they belong.

5. Now wet your brush and fill in one of the lily pads with clear water. Using a green watercolor pencil, outline the wet lily pad and fill it in using long, diagonal strokes.

6. Now add more strokes using other shades of green and yellow. Use dark
green strokes in the center of the lily pad.

7. Follow steps 5 and 6 with all of the other lily pads.

8. Clean your brush in the water and wet the yellow center and outer petals of the purple flower, if you drew it. Fill in these areas with diagonal strokes in the appropriate colors. Let dry.

10. Once everything is dry, color around the lily pads with a black watercolor pencil. Don't color it all in, just close to the lily pads. Carefully brush these areas with a wet brush. (See example.) Let dry.

11. Using a dark green pencil, draw the veins on the lily pads. Do not wet these!