How to paint your first watercolor landscape and sky

How to Paint a Watercolor Landscape – A Beginner-Friendly Tutorial

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Painting a watercolor landscape is one of the most satisfying ways to express your creativity. There’s something peaceful and meditative about bringing a natural scene to life with just a few brushstrokes, washes of color, and a bit of imagination. Whether you're new to watercolor or simply looking for a calming subject to paint, watercolor landscapes are a great place to start.

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to paint a simple watercolor landscape featuring a soft, “fluffy cloud” sky—one of the most important and expressive elements in any landscape composition. Best of all, this is a beginner-friendly watercolor landscape with no sketching required. You can jump right in and follow along at your own pace.

Why Paint Watercolor Landscapes?

Watercolor landscapes are incredibly popular with both beginners and experienced artists—and for good reason. Landscapes allow you to practice a wide variety of techniques: from painting skies and clouds to layering distant mountains, trees, fields, and reflections. They’re also highly forgiving. Since nature is full of irregular shapes and organic forms, small mistakes often go unnoticed and can even enhance the charm of the final piece.

More importantly, painting a watercolor landscape helps you develop a sense of composition, color blending, and brush control—all essential skills for any watercolor artist. Plus, they’re a joy to look at and make for beautiful wall art or handmade gifts.

In this post, we’ll go over the step-by-step process of painting your first watercolor landscape, starting with the materials you’ll need.

Materials You'll Need for Your Watercolor Landscape

Having the right supplies will make your painting experience smoother and more enjoyable. While there are many tools available for watercolor artists, here are the essentials I recommend for this specific watercolor landscape tutorial:

1. Watercolor Paper

2. Watercolor Paints

  • For vibrant, transparent colors, I use Winsor & Newton watercolors.

  • Recommended colors for this landscape tutorial:

    • Winsor Blue (for the sky and distant elements)

    • Yellow (for sunlight and highlights)

    • Sap Green (for tree leaves and grasses)

    •  Scarlet Lake (for tree trunks and rocks)

       

       

  • A large round brush (Size 20) – great for big sky washes and soft blending

  • A medium round brush (Size 6) – perfect for midground details like trees and hills

  • A fine detail brush (Size 2) – for adding small textures like grass or tree branches

4. Other Essentials

  • Water container – for rinsing brushes

  • Paper towels or a cloth – to blot brushes and control moisture

  • Palette – for mixing your colors

  • Masking tape – to tape down your paper and create clean edges

5. Beginner Starter Kit

Step-by-Step: Painting a Watercolor Landscape with a Fluffy Cloud Sky

Now that you’ve gathered your materials, let’s dive into the painting process! This beginner watercolor landscape focuses on creating a dramatic yet soft sky with fluffy clouds, followed by a simple foreground to complete the scene.

Step 1: Prep Your Paper

Start by taping down your watercolor paper onto a flat surface using masking tape. This will prevent warping and help give your watercolor landscape a clean, finished border.

Step 2: Paint the Sky

Wet the top half of your paper with clean water using your large round brush. While the paper is still damp, begin adding Winsor Blue to create the sky. Use soft horizontal strokes, keeping the color lighter toward the horizon. To create fluffy clouds, make sure to fuse the edges of your clouds with a damp brush. This technique will leave behind soft white cloud shapes, adding atmosphere and depth to your watercolor landscape.

Step 3: Add the Soft Water

Once the sky dries, use the same process to paint in the water with the clouds reflecting. Use a tissue to lift harsh lines from the horizon if necessary.

Step 4: Build the Foreground

Using your medium and small brushes, add more saturated colors to create fields, trees, or water. You can mix Yellow with Blue to create various greens, or add a bit of Scarlet Lake to warm things up. Let the layers dry between applications to avoid muddy colors.

Step 5: Add Final Details

With your fine detail brush, add finishing touches—tree trunks, blades of grass, or distant shadows. These small elements help pull the entire watercolor landscape together and give it a sense of realism.

Tips for Painting Watercolor Landscapes

  • Work light to dark: Start with your lightest washes and gradually add darker tones as you build the scene.

  • Use water to your advantage: Water is your most important tool in watercolor. Control the amount on your brush to adjust paint intensity and create soft or sharp edges.

  • Don’t overwork it: One of the charms of a watercolor landscape is its loose, spontaneous feel. Try not to fuss over every detail.

  • Let layers dry: Always let your paint layers dry completely before adding details or darker washes on top.

To paint this simple Watercolor Landscape, just follow the video tutorial linked below:

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