Painting a Surreal Watercolor Portrait: My Bearded Iris (Yes, It's a Pun)
The Idea: A Bearded Iris Meets a Bearded Man
I'll be honest — I was going for the pun. A bearded iris flower merged with a bearded man. Sometimes the silliest ideas lead to the most fun paintings, and this one was no exception. I haven't done a surreal portrait in quite a while, and the moment this idea popped into my head, I knew it was exactly how I wanted to spend my time. No commercial goals, no licensing potential — just pure creative joy.
If you ever find yourself in a rut, I highly recommend giving yourself permission to paint something that makes absolutely no market sense. Some of my favorite work has come from those moments.
My Materials: Paper, Brushes, and Colors I Love
I worked on an 11 x 14 cold press Arteza Professional Watercolor paper. It's more affordable than some of the high-end options out there, but the quality is genuinely solid — and importantly for this painting, it lifts really well. That's a big deal when you're painting without a sketch and making decisions on the fly.
I started with a one-inch flat brush to carve in my darkest values, and later moved to a size eight round brush for more defined shapes. I also pulled out a small synthetic filbert to do some scrubbing and lifting work on the nose area.
For color, I leaned into a complementary color scheme:
Rockwell Art Royal Purple — a warmer purple with pink undertones, perfect for the iris petals
Palaiba Diamond Blue — honestly, my favorite blue. If I need a blue, I'm reaching for it every single time.
Daniel Smith Cadmium Yellow Hue — for that signature yellow "beard" spot on the iris
Quinacridone Gold — to add dimension and depth to the yellow areas
The purple and blue are both granulating pigments, which means they settle into the paper in this beautifully unpredictable way. I live for granulating colors. They do so much of the work for you.
Building My Reference Image in Procreate
Since this was a combination of two subjects — a man and a flower — I needed to build my own reference. I use Unsplash for copyright-free photos. I searched for a bearded man whose pose felt right, then searched for an iris with the shapes and colors I was looking for. From there, I brought both images into Procreate, separated the petals, separated the head, and morphed them together.
Could I have done it faster in Photoshop? Probably. But there's something really nice about sitting in my chair by the window with my tablet, just dreaming up the next painting. It felt like part of the creative process, not just a technical step.
Painting Without a Sketch: How I Approach It
I painted this entire piece without a preliminary sketch, which means I was looking at my reference photo, picking out shapes, and just diving in. No underdrawing, no safety net — just paint.
When you work this way, you become very dependent on inferred shapes and lines. For example, at one point I realized the nose placement wasn't making sense relative to the eyes. So I had to stop, really study the facial structure, and use my brush to line up where the corner of the eye would meet the nose if I drew a straight line down. It's a skill that takes practice, but it trains your eye in a powerful way.
The biggest mindset shift for sketch-free painting: paint what you see, not what you think you see. This is especially important with proportions. Eyes are almost always painted too large because we put so much emotional weight on them. And noses? Usually painted smaller than they actually are. Pay attention. Trust your observation over your assumptions.
My Approach to Edges and Values
One of the things I'm always thinking about is lost and found edges — knowing when to let something blur softly into the background and when to let it stay crisp and defined. I wanted this piece to feel dreamy and ethereal, not like a stiff cutout floating in white space.
That meant strategically thinking about where I wanted the background to show, where I wanted a petal to read lighter than the background, and where I needed it to go darker. Irises are incredible for this because their shape is so complex and layered — there's always something interesting happening with the light.
I also painted negatively throughout, meaning I often painted the space around the subject rather than filling in the subject itself. Just be careful not to overdo it — negative painting is powerful, but too much and things start to look like a paper cutout rather than a painting.
The First Wash (Which Was Basically the Whole Painting)
Here's the thing about how I work: by the time I finished what I'd call my "first wash," the painting was nearly done. I build up a lot in that initial layer — shapes, values, color relationships. Then I wait for it to dry and come back in for the more defined marks.
I did try adding salt to the background for texture, but the timing wasn't quite right — I added it when the paper was still too wet, so I didn't get the crisp salt patterns I was hoping for. Timing is everything with salt. You want to wait until the shine is just starting to leave the paper before you drop it in. That said, I wasn't relying on those marks, so it wasn't a disaster.
One thing that worked beautifully: when I added the blue near the cheek area, it bled into the yellow and created this gorgeous, organic bleed. That's watercolor doing its thing, and I will never not love it.
Fixing Problems Without Panicking
Mid-painting, I had to confront the nose situation — it just wasn't reading right. Here's my advice for moments like that: don't rush in while it's still wet. If you go in and try to fix something before it dries, you'll create mud, make it worse, and draw even more attention to the problem. I am not a patient person, which is honestly one of the reasons I love watercolor. It forces me to wait.
Once things were dry, I used a clean synthetic filbert to scrub and lift the nose area and give it more form. The Arteza paper handled this well — it lifted cleanly without destroying the surface.
I also experimented with stencils to add some subtle texture to the background. It was fun, but I'll give you the same warning I gave myself: don't go overboard. A little stenciling adds interest. Too much starts to look more like a craft project than a fine art painting. I pulled back at the right moment — mostly.
What I Love About Painting Irises
I don't think I'd ever call an iris my favorite flower if someone asked me outright. But every single time I want to try something new, explore a technique, or just have fun? I always come back to an iris. There's something about the shape — the way the petals fold and drape and layer — that gives you so much to work with.
Right now, practically every neighbor on my street has irises blooming in their garden. Pink, yellow, purple (multiple purples — they're all different, I promise), white with purple edges, a beautiful deep maroon. I'm going a little crazy over all of them.
The Finished Painting and What It Taught Me
This isn't my most instructional video or post, and I know that. But that was never the point. The point was to follow an idea that made me excited — a bearded iris man, a complementary color palette, and a chance to play with granulating pigments and dreamy edges.
I hope it inspires you to find your own combination. Pull images from Unsplash. Bring them into Procreate or Photoshop. Find the shapes and colors that light you up, and put them together into something that's entirely yours.
You don't need commercial intent to make something worth making. Sometimes you just need to pick up your brushes and dream.