Atmospheric Foggy Forest Watercolour Tutorial | Easy Step-by-Step, by Victoria and Colours on YouTube. 19 min 59 s.
- Video length
- 19 min 59 s
- Time to do it
- 40 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 8
What you need
Steps
Tape a sheet of cold-press watercolour paper to a board. Mix a pale blue-grey wash from ultramarine with a tiny amount of burnt sienna.
Wet the top two-thirds of the paper with clean water. Leave the lower third dry so the foreground trees keep crisp edges.
Load a large brush with the pale wash and paint across the damp area. Let the colour bleed and blend on its own for soft fog.
While the paper is still damp, drop in distant tree silhouettes using weak grey-green. Keep them blurred and lighter than the foreground.
Let the background dry completely. Paint mid-ground trees with slightly stronger grey-green and less water for a middle layer.
Mix muted green from blue, yellow and a touch of red or burnt sienna. Paint foreground pines with darker, stronger colour.
Switch to a small brush. Add trunks, branches and uneven tree tops once the paper is touch-dry, varying the heights.
Lift patches of mist with a clean damp brush or paper towel before the paint dries. Leave the painting flat to dry.
Tips and common mistakes
Touch the paper with the back of your hand; it should feel cool, not dripping, before you paint.
Build from light to dark and let layers dry, or distant trees will lose their soft edges.
Keep foreground pines darker and sharper than distant ones to create depth.
Test greens on scrap paper because watercolour dries lighter than it looks wet.
Questions
Do I need to wet the whole sheet?
No. Wet only the sky and distant tree area. Keep the foreground dry so the pines stay crisp.
How do I stop the fog looking muddy?
Use pale, watery mixes and let each layer dry before adding darker trees.
What colours make muted greens?
Mix blue and yellow, then add a little burnt sienna or red to tone down the green.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
