Easy Autumn Watercolor Painting for Beginners | Step-by-Step Tutorial, by Colour & Love on YouTube. 8 min 45 s.
- Video length
- 8 min 45 s
- Time to do it
- 45 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 9
What you need
Steps
Tape your paper to a board so it stays flat. Sketch a light horizon line about two thirds up the page, plus a few simple tree shapes. Keep the pencil lines faint.
Mix your autumn colors on the palette. Yellow plus a little red gives orange, red plus brown gives deep rust, and brown plus blue gives a soft shadow grey. Test each on scrap paper.
Wet the sky area with clean water only. Drop pale yellow near the horizon and light blue-grey higher up, then tilt the board so the colors blend on their own.
Paint distant hills or tree lines with weak, watery mixes. Pale, cool colors make them look far away and add depth to the scene.
Let that layer dry completely. Then paint the middle trees with stronger orange and red mixes, still leaving some paper white for light.
Paint the foreground trees largest and darkest using brown mixed with red. Load the brush and touch it down in clumps rather than dragging lines.
Add texture with a nearly dry brush: dab small dots and short marks for leaf clusters. Flick a few tiny specks of paint for falling leaves.
Paint soft shadows under the trees and along the ground with your grey-violet mix. Keep them thin and uneven so they look natural.
Let the painting dry fully, then peel the tape off at a low angle so the paper does not tear.
Tips and common mistakes
Add water a few drops at a time, since too much water makes colors run and turn pale.
Wait for each layer to dry before adding the next, or the colors go muddy.
Always work from light to dark, because you cannot lift dark paint back to white.
Rinse your brush between colors and blot it on the towel to keep mixes clean.
Questions
Do I need special watercolor paper?
Yes, use watercolor paper rather than printer paper. Thin paper buckles and pills when it gets wet, which ruins soft washes.
Why do my colors look muddy?
Too much water and too many colors mixed together cause it. Rinse the brush often, mix only two colors at a time, and let layers dry.
How long should I wait between layers?
A thin wash usually dries in 5 to 10 minutes at room temperature. Speed it up with a hairdryer on the cool setting, held well away from the paper.
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.
