I’m using a stronger mix of my cool purple this time. I used a round brush for the tree trunk and a rigger brush for branches. I turned the rigger on it’s side and dragged and flicked in the patches of grass and flecks of sticks and other debris. It’s always good to put a bit of texture in the foreground to enhance the depth of your painting with the illusion of a little fine detail here and there.
How To Paint Winter Landscapes In Watercolour
In this post I’m going to look at two examples of how I paint icy winter landscape scenes in watercolour and walk you through them step by step. In these paintings I’m using a limited palette mostly from colours on the cool side of the colour wheel (No surprises there) but I also want to show you that it’s possible to introduce some subtle bright colour variations to add interest to your painting.
Materials List
I’ve linked to where you can purchase the paints and the other art materials I used from Amazon.
Brushes
Da Vinci Paint Brush, Round Quill New Wave Synthetics, Size 2.
Buy from Amazon
Mop Brush (Princeton Artist Brush Neptune, Series 4750, Quill Synthetic Squirrel, Size 4) Buy From Amazon
Winsor & Newton No.6 Round Bamboo Brush (Great for grass and foliage) Buy from Amazon
Rigger Brush ( For thin tree branches etc) Buy from Amazon
Winsor & Newton Cotman 3/8″ Flat Brush Buy From Amazon
Paper
Arches Watercolor Paper Block, Cold Press, 9″ x 12″, 140 pound Buy from Amazon
Misc
Easy release painters masking tape Buy from Amazon
Watercolour Palette Buy from Amazon
Subscribe to my newsletter and get my free email course plus free art critiques, videos, tips and discount offers
Free Course! Learn Watercolor In 7 Days
n.b. I will never share your email address with any 3rd parties
How Do You Paint White Snow & Ice?
This is a bit of a trick question. It’s rare that you ever see anything that is purely white, or purely black for that matter. Some watercolour “Purists” would never dream of using white paint. They would prefer to leave areas of white paper untouched as it has more “Sparkle”.
This snowy mountain landscape scene literally has no white in it at all. I’ve used a bright triad of Rose Madder, Cerulean Blue, and Cadmium Yellow together in a wash which completely covers the paper. I’ve contrasted this colourful wash with shades of cool purple mixed from Prussian Blue, Alizarin Crimson and Paynes Grey.
For an in depth explanation of colour wheels, triads and colour theory in general please read this post.
Paint With Me: Winter Landscape Watercolour Painting
I’ve been really indulging in the holiday spirit this year, which prompted me to create this outdoor winter landscape in watercolour.
It’s not often that I paint landscapes or scenery, but there’s something soothing about creating your own little location and watching it come to life.
This post contains affiliate links for product recommendations. Any purchases made through these links help support the blog with a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
In the video below, you’ll see how I created this scene step by step. This time, I tried out the Stonehenge Aqua Cold Press paper from Legion Paper, and was pleasantly surprised.
It is a 100% cotton paper with a great texture. Click here to watch or press play below:
I also wanted to take this opportunity to let you know about my new Watercolour Workshop!
I’ve created a complete online course full of videos for those who are interested in learning how to paint with watercolours.
I cover everything from tools and techniques to digitizing your work and creating patterns… just like I do for many of my retail products.
For all of the details, check out the Watercolour Workshop site right here. I really hope to see you there!
- Stonehenge Aqua CP (100% Cotton) 300GSM paper
- Winsor & Newton Cotman Indian Red
- Winsor & Newton Cotman Indigo
- Winsor & Newton Cotman Burnt Umber
- Winsor & Newton Cotman Yellow Ochre
- Winsor & Newton Cotman Raw Umber
- Silver Brush Black Velvet #12
- Silver Brush Black Velvet #6
- Uniball Signo White Gel Pen
Last Updated on September 16, 2023
