A landscape is the perfect subject for your first serious watercolor painting. Landscapes are forgiving – trees do not need to look exactly like a specific tree, clouds are naturally irregular, and the looseness of watercolor actually adds to the charm rather than detracting from it. In this tutorial, we will paint a simple scene with a sky, distant mountains, a tree line, and a lake, using techniques you can apply to any landscape subject.
This tutorial assumes you have basic familiarity with watercolor fundamentals and a basic set of materials. If you are still building your kit, check our guide to essential starter materials.
Use a light pencil to draw simple horizon lines. Divide the paper roughly into thirds: the top third for sky, the middle third for mountains and tree line, and the bottom third for the lake.
Draw a gently curving mountain line across the middle area. Below it, add an irregular line for the tree tops. The bottom area will be the lake, which will reflect what is above. Keep the pencil work minimal – just guidelines. Heavy pencil marks will show through transparent watercolor washes.
This is where the magic begins. Wet the entire sky area (from the top of the paper down to the mountain line) with clean water using your large brush. Make sure the surface has an even sheen but no standing puddles.
Load your large brush with a mixture of Cerulean Blue and a touch of Ultramarine Blue. Start at the top of the paper and paint in broad horizontal strokes. The colour should be strongest at the top and gradually weaken as you move downward. Add more water as you descend to dilute the colour naturally.
This is a gradient wash from darker blue at the top to lighter blue (or nearly white) near the horizon. The pre-wet paper ensures smooth transitions without hard edges.
While the sky wash is still wet, take a clean, damp (not wet) brush and lift colour from areas where you want clouds. Dab gently and the brush will absorb pigment, leaving lighter cloud shapes. Alternatively, let the gradient dry and paint cloud shapes later with very dilute grey (Ultramarine Blue plus a touch of Burnt Sienna).
Do not overwork the sky. One or two simple cloud shapes are enough. The beauty of watercolor skies comes from their freshness and spontaneity.
Let the sky dry completely before proceeding. In humid conditions, this might take 10 to 15 minutes.
Distant mountains appear cool and muted due to atmospheric perspective. Mix a soft blue-violet from Ultramarine Blue with a touch of Alizarin Crimson and plenty of water. The colour should be pale and cool.
Using your medium brush, paint the mountain shapes with this mix. Follow your pencil guideline but do not be too precise – real mountains have irregular profiles. Where the mountain meets the sky, keep the edge relatively clean using wet-on-dry technique on the dried sky.
For added dimension, while the mountain wash is still wet, drop a slightly warmer tone (add a touch of Burnt Sienna) into the lower portions. This suggests a sun-warmed base versus a cooler summit.
Let this layer dry completely.
The tree line sits in front of the mountains, so it should be darker and warmer. Mix a green from Sap Green (or Cerulean Blue plus Cadmium Yellow) and darken it with a touch of Burnt Sienna for a natural, organic-looking green.
Using your medium brush, paint an irregular line of tree tops along the middle of the paper. Do not paint individual trees at this stage – just the overall tree line silhouette. Vary the height and shape: some bumps for taller trees, some dips for gaps. This randomness is what makes it look natural.
While the green is still damp, add variation. Drop darker green (more blue in the mix) into shadow areas between trees. Add a warmer green (more yellow) where sunlight would hit treetops. This colour variation within the tree mass creates depth and interest without painting individual leaves.
For a few individual trees that stand taller than the tree line, use your small brush to paint simple trunk-and-canopy shapes. A dark brown trunk (Burnt Umber) with a rounded canopy of mixed greens is sufficient.
Let everything dry before proceeding to the lake.
The lake is essentially an inverted, softer mirror of everything above it. This reflection effect is simpler than it sounds.
Wet the entire lake area with clean water using your large brush. This ensures soft, blended reflections rather than hard-edged marks.
Using the same colours as the sky, mountains, and trees, paint their reflections in reverse. The sky blue goes at the bottom (nearest to you) and the tree green reflections go directly below the tree line. Work quickly while the paper is wet so the colours blend gently.
The key difference from the actual sky and trees: reflections should be slightly darker and more muted than the originals. Add a touch more pigment and a tiny amount of Burnt Sienna to each reflected colour mix. This subtle difference tells the viewer’s eye that this is water, not sky.
While the reflections are still damp, drag a clean, damp flat brush horizontally across the lake area in a few places. These horizontal strokes suggest the gentle ripple of water and break up the reflections just enough to look like a lake rather than a perfect mirror.
Let the lake dry completely.
The foreground is closest to the viewer, so it should have the most detail and the warmest, most saturated colours.
Paint a strip of warm earth tone along the lake edge using Burnt Sienna mixed with Yellow Ochre. Vary the width – the shore is not a perfectly straight line. Add a few dry brush marks for rocky or sandy texture.
Using your small brush with a fairly concentrated dark green, flick upward strokes from the shoreline to suggest grass or reeds. Vary the heights and angles. Add a few strokes of Yellow Ochre for dried grass mixed in with the green.
Look at your painting from a distance (hold it at arm’s length or step back). Identify areas that need more contrast. The base of the tree line where it meets the shore is usually the darkest area. Apply a concentrated dark (Ultramarine Blue plus Burnt Umber) to this junction using glazing over the dry paint.
A few tiny V-shaped marks in the sky suggest distant birds and add life to the scene. Use a small brush with a dark grey mix. Less is more – two or three birds in a loose formation is plenty.
If you taped the borders, peel the tape away at a low angle to reveal clean white edges framing your painting. This instant professional presentation effect is deeply satisfying.
This simple landscape teaches several fundamental watercolor principles:
Once you have painted this basic landscape, try variations. Change the time of day by using warm oranges and yellows for a sunset sky. Replace the lake with a meadow. Add a path or a simple building. Each variation practices the same core techniques while building your confidence.
For choosing the best painting surface for your landscape work, our guide to how paper texture affects techniques will help you understand why cold press is the most popular choice for landscape subjects. And to develop your colour mixing skills, practice mixing different greens, sky blues, and earth tones before your next painting session.
Landscape painting is endlessly rewarding because every scene is unique, every light condition is different, and watercolor’s unpredictable nature ensures that no two paintings ever turn out the same. Embrace that quality and enjoy the journey.
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