Draw and Paint an Americana Mason Jar Bouquet

Mason jars are so versatile! You can easily add them to your home decor with their function and beauty. I love painting them too! Last Mother’s Day, I showed you how to draw and paint a mason jar with spring flowers, and today I want to change it up and paint an Americana mason jar bouquet! 

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I find Americana decor timeless but especially perfect for summer. I think I need a new mason jar bouquet painting for every season, what about you?

This one will be a little different than my spring one, where I used acrylic paint like watercolors for a soft, whimsical look. In this lesson, I use lots of opaque paint colors in many layers for a bold piece. I still love the sketch outline style and use it as an accent at the end, but if it’s not your favorite, they are easy to omit.

JUMP TO THE FULL AMERICANA MASON JAR BOUQUET VIDEO TUTORIAL

You all know I love creating still-life paintings! I am often asked about how I make my compositions balanced. For my bouquets similar to this one, I like to do a pre sketch! All of these lines will be covered by paint, and no one is holding you to stick to your outline, but it helps prevent unevenness. 

Draw a Mason Jar

First, we need to draw the mason jar. I used a fine tip sharpie, but I love these waterproof pens too. I am partial to the brush tip for my sketchy style. Just make sure what you are using is waterproof so that when you add paint, it doesn’t smudge.

I am aiming for my favorite sketch-like style, and it’s an excellent way for beginners to start drawing. Your mason jar doesn’t need perfect lines! That is the beauty of this loose style.

It’s not too hard of a shape to sketch out. 

Usually, when I do mason jar bouquets, I leave the glass translucent, and you can see the stems and water, but this time I will paint the jar opaque so you won’t even have to think about those.

Plan and Sketch the Bouquet

After you have your jar drawn, plan your flower layout. 

Since this is an Americana Mason Jar Bouquet, start with the flag. Now, this is just the idea of the flag. I am not counting lines and stars! Sketch a simple flag loosely hanging from a pole.

I plan to have a single large sunflower surrounded by a few daisies and Texas bluebonnets, with some red carnations and greenery as filler. When sketching your patriotic bouquet, choose your favorite flowers and loosely draw them in an arrangement. 

These do not need to be perfect!..they won’t even be seen. You will paint right over them and cover all the lines if you want to. Then, if you like the look of the lines, you can come back after painting and draw or paint some outlines. 

In the video below, you can see just how messily I make my sketch! Just lines and squiggles so creating a shape and guide before painting.

Paint a Base Layer

Painting is all about the layers. If you only paint one layer on, the artwork will lack dimension. I also like to mix multiple tones of color on my brush at the same time for more organic variances in colors.

I start painting by filling in the whole jar with a warm cream color and darkened the edges with a Pebble color for a rustic look. Go ahead and grab some black paint and outline the jar with wispy lines. If you need to, you can thin the black paint with water to help make those lines easier.

When you are painting, keep in mind what color is already on your brush before rinsing it off. For example, since I already had black on my brush from lining the mason jar, I mix it with some dark brown to fill in the center of my sunflower and flag pole. 

Then, with a clean brush, grab a vibrant blue and purple to dab in the shape of my bluebonnets. Finally, add a touch of black to that color mixture, and fill in the navy on the flag. 

See what I mean by bouncing around the canvas and blending new colors on my brush and palette?

Continue to paint your base layer on your Americana mason jar bouquet– Remember, you don’t have to achieve full opaque coverage on the first coat. If you overlap or mix colors you didn’t want to, don’t worry. Let it dry and paint over it.

Paint the Second Layer of Paint

If you want more of a mixed blend of paint colors, you can continue to work your wet paint and add shadows and highlights. However, if you need more coverage or enjoy your highlights to pop, let your paint dry before adding your second layer of paint.

As you move around your painting, previous sections are able to dry and you can go back and add more layers.

To make my sunflower the star of the show in my Americana mason jar bouquet, I knew I wanted it to pop.

I first used a muted yellow and some white. Then, in the second layer, I used many shades of yellow, some orange, and even pulled some brown from the center up into the petals.

This is the beauty of painting in your mixed media pad first! Play with the colors you have and see what appeals to you!

Finishing Touches

After I painted everything in with all my layers of paint, I decided I wanted accent lines around my Americana Mason Jar Bouquet to match the mason jar. You can use black paint and a fine liner brush or an acrylic paint pen. 

It wouldn’t be one of my paintings without a little bit of gold sketched around too! Check out my favorite gold paints HERE!

Finally, finish with the words on your mason jar. There are so many things that would look great. Peace. Glory. Liberty. I chose the simple USA. 

Watch Christie’s Americana Mason Jar Bouquet Video Tutorial

If you want another fun patriotic project, Check out this fun mixed media flag I painted on an old wood plank!

I am loving the red, white, and blues of the carnations, daisies, and bluebonnets and how they play with the golden yellow sunflower! Make sure to share what you create in the Facebook Group!

Stay Creative,