Watercolor Landscape Painting: How to Paint a Landscape with Watercolors

With watercolors, landscapes aren't just painted, they're brought to life. From soft mountain silhouettes to dynamic coastlines - I'll show you how to bring your visions to paper with just a few brushstrokes and dabs of color. Perfect for beginners and anyone looking to refine their watercolor technique.

What materials do I need to paint a watercolor landscape?

• Watercolor paper (at least 240 g)
• Watercolor brushes: round watercolor brushes (size 6-8) and a flat watercolor brush (25 mm)
• Watercolor paints: you can mix all colors from the primary colors, which are magenta, primary blue, and primary yellow. If these aren't labeled, you can use true pink, cyan blue, and true yellow.
• Neutral tint: recommended for darkening (not black).
• Water: use clear water to lighten the color.
• Soft pencil and kneadable eraser: these let you make rough preliminary sketches if needed.
• Mixing palette: you can mix your colors in the lid of your paint box or on a palette
• Painting rags and paper towels: these let you soak up excess water.

How do you keep watercolor paper from buckling?

To keep your watercolor paper from buckling, it shouldn't be too thin. Use, for example, 300 g paper.

If you fix the paper in place, it won't warp. You can fix the paper down with painter's tape, for example. Choose the low-tack variant so you don't damage the paper, and tape it to your painting surface. If you buy a watercolor block that's glued around all four edges, the sheets are automatically held in shape and flatten out again as they dry.

Can you paint a watercolor landscape on canvas?

On regular canvas, watercolor paint just beads up. If you want to paint your watercolor on a canvas so you don't need a frame, you should prime the surface first. There are various watercolor primers available. The primer makes the surface behave like watercolor paper, so you can achieve beautiful gradients. Another option is to buy a special watercolor canvas.

Watercolor Landscape Painting for Beginners: How to Paint a Watercolor Landscape Step by Step

With these seven steps, you can easily paint a coastal landscape with watercolors. This tutorial is also suitable for beginners:

1. Lightly sketch the landscape in advance with a pencil to create a faint outline. Wet the sky area of the paper with clear water.

1. Add light and then darker colors to the sky with your brush, then blend the colors together.

1. Next, dab clouds into the sky.

1. Paint the coastline on the horizon with watercolors and let it dry.

1. Now dampen the water area with your brush, add color, and blend it gently.

1. Paint the rocks once the water area has dried.

1. Place the beach umbrella at the intersection point (1/3 from the right and 1/3 from the bottom).

Template: watercolor image of a mountain landscape

What should you pay special attention to with a watercolor landscape?

The following points are essential for a loose, relaxed landscape watercolor:

• The message of the image
• The color choice
• The composition
• The contrasts
• The technique

The message of your watercolor landscape

First, ask yourself: what do you want to express with your watercolor artwork? The clearer this is to you, the more coherent your image will be.

You can choose the technique and stylistic devices for your watercolor landscape that support your intended message. That sounds abstract at first, so here's an example:

Color choice for your watercolor landscape

You can evoke the seasons purely through the color mood of your watercolor landscape. If you want to paint a spring-like, cheerful image, choose fresh, yellow-green colors. Keep the composition of the landscape open, deliberately leave white areas, and work with color contrasts. You can suggest flowers as splashes of color.

Template: watercolor landscape idea for Easter

A winter landscape, on the other hand, is created through less saturated colors, a strong light-dark contrast, and blurred colors that appear hazy to foggy. If you also shift the horizon line far up or down, you'll add extra drama to the image. Orange-brownish and purple colors are characteristic of an autumn landscape. You can also use color to create the illusion of perspective. Use warmer, more intense colors for objects in the foreground, and lighter, duller, cooler colors in the background.

Composition of the watercolor landscape

The golden ratio is important for a balanced composition. The golden ratio is a formula that describes the size relationships between areas and objects. The ratio is about 2/3 and is perceived by most people as a harmonious composition.

This also applies to interesting placement of subjects on the paper. If you divide the image vertically and horizontally into three parts, nine areas result, giving you four intersection points.

Placing an object on one of these intersection points draws the viewer's attention to it in a particular way. Feel free to use this effect in your painting.

Using contrasts in a watercolor landscape

Play with the following contrasts:

• Light-dark contrast
• Warm-cool contrast
• Complementary contrast
• Saturation contrast
• Large-small contrast

Template: watercolor coastal landscape for beginners

Techniques for landscape painting with watercolors

Learn these main watercolor painting techniques:

• Wet-on-wet technique
• Glazing technique (layering)
• Wash technique (blending)
• Dry brush technique (granulating)