It makes images that look painted in watercolor on paper: transparent washes, soft edges where wet paint meets wet paint, and bare paper for the lightest parts. You describe the subject and how loose or exact the painting should be. On Nano Banana 2.1 an image costs 10 credits. You can start for free.
What makes the look
Watercolor is transparent. The paper gives the light, and the water decides where the color goes.
White paper left bare for highlights, and a grain you can see where the paint settles into the dips.
Thin layers of color you can see through. Darker areas come from more layers, not from black.
Soft blooms where wet paint runs into wet paint, and hard rims where a wash dried on its own.
Optional pencil or ink under the paint. Pencil keeps it light; ink gives the sketchbook look of a travel journal.
Attach a photo of yourself and ask for watercolor.
Each card shows the prompt, the model and what the image costs. Copy a prompt and swap in your own subject. The examples were made on Nano Banana 2, which Nano Banana 2.1 replaced.
A botanical watercolor of a single foxglove stem with purple bell-shaped flowers and broad green leaves, painted on white cold-press paper. Loose wet-on-wet washes that bloom at the edges, fine pencil underdrawing still visible, pigment settling into the paper grain in the shadows, and plenty of bare paper around the plant.
A travel sketch in pen and watercolor of a steep street in Lisbon: a yellow tram climbing past tiled facades, laundry hanging from iron balconies, a café table on the corner. Quick confident ink lines, washes that stop short of the lines in places, the edges of the page left unpainted like a sketchbook spread.
A loose watercolor portrait of an older man in a tweed flat cap with a short grey beard, three-quarter view, looking past the viewer. Warm washes on the skin, a cool blue background that bleeds into his shoulder, hard-edged shadows under the cap, and white paper left for the highlights on his nose and cheek.
A watercolor wreath for a wedding invitation: eucalyptus sprigs, white garden roses, blush ranunculus and a few olive branches in a loose circle, painted with soft transparent washes in sage, blush and cream. The center of the wreath is empty cream paper with room for names and a date. No text.
A watercolor pet portrait of a ginger cat asleep, curled on a blue knitted blanket in a patch of sunlight. Soft wet-in-wet fur, the blanket's stitches suggested with a few dry-brush strokes, a loose warm background that fades to bare paper at the edges.
A wide watercolor spread for a children's picture book: a small fox and a badger walking side by side along a lane through autumn hills toward a stone cottage with one lit window at dusk. Layered washes in ochre, rust and grey-blue, soft blooms in the sky, a few ink lines on the animals, white paper showing through in the lit window.
A botanical plate wants careful edges and a pencil line. A travel sketch or a portrait looks better loose, with washes that run past the drawing.
Say where the paper stays bare: the highlights, the edges of the page, the empty center of an invitation. Watercolor has no white paint.
Use 1K to try ideas. For a print or an invitation, run the one you keep again at 2K or 4K.
It usually has no paper in it. Ask for bare white paper in the highlights, paper grain, and edges that bloom where the washes meet. Smooth gradients and a solid white background read as digital.
Watercolor is transparent, so the paper glows through and darks come from layers. Gouache is opaque and matte, with flat areas of color that cover the paper. Say which one you want in the prompt.
Yes. Make a character sheet first, attach it to each new scene and name what to keep: the face, the clothes, the colors and the paint style. Our guides painted Fern the hare into new scenes this way. Nano Banana 2.1 reads up to 14 reference images.
Yes. Run it at 2K or 4K on Nano Banana 2.1. 2K costs 1.5 times the base price and 4K 2.5 times.
10 credits on Nano Banana 2.1 at 1K and 32 on Nano Banana Pro. You can start for free.
Yes. Attach it as a reference image and name the style. The face can change a little from run to run, so run a few and keep the closest.
StyleClayCharacters, food, rooms and products that look sculpted from plasticine and shot on a miniature set.Learn more
Style3D renderSmooth rendered shapes, soft studio light and real materials, for mascots, product heroes, icons and rooms.Learn more
StyleTechnical drawingBlueprints, exploded views and patent sheets of everyday objects, with numbered callouts.Learn more