How to Paint a Watercolor Rainbow

Rainbow paintings are showing up everywhere these days.  I love that they aren't just the traditional rainbow colors - pretty much any color palette goes and it's so fun! That's why I've created this free watercolor tutorial for painting your own rainbow art.  Keep reading below for the tutorial!

Supplies:

8x10 inch Piece of Watercolor Paper (choose something heavy duty like Strathmore 140lb coldpress)

Watercolor Paints

Paint Brush- medium flat

Small Lid (approx 4.5 inches wide)

Pencil

1: Choose a color palette of four colors for your rainbow.  I opted for warm/ neutral shades of orange, pink, gold, and tan.  Here's a mixing chart for you if you'd like to use these exact shades for your rainbow.

2: To create a nice arc for your rainbow, lay a small lid in the center of your paper, slightly near the top. Lightly trace the top half of lid with pencil to get even curve. This will serve as a guide for the layers of the rainbow.

3: Mix your first color and paint the top layer of the rainbow starting in the middle where you drew your arc.  Paint that first layer right about the arc your drew. Once you get the arc painted, continue the paint straight down each of the sides to make a horse-shoe shape.  Keep your line as even as possible, but if you waver a little bit it's ok. This artwork is not meant to be perfect! It's watercolor so the paint tends to have lots of variations that you may not be able to control. That's part of its charm!

4: Mix your second color and paint a line of it right under your first layer. Try to leave a tiny bit of white space between the top layer and your second layer.  If the two layers touch and the colors mix in places, that's ok too! Let dry slightly.

5: Mix your third color and paint a line of that right under the second layer.

6: Mix your fourth color and paint a layer of that right inside the third layer. Let your painting dry completely and you're done!  Happy Rainbow Painting!