Landscapes are endless. If a painter should ever run out of landscapes to paint in the real world there are always imaginative landscapes to inspire. Painting an entire landscape can seem daunting at first, but following some basic steps will help ensure a balance in your watercolor landscape paintings.
Sketch the landscape you wish to paint. Take the time to lightly draw with an easily erasable pencil where the prominent features will be placed on the canvas and where shadow and light will work best.
Establish fore, middle and backgrounds. This is essential to the balance in your painting. Visually split the canvas into thirds horizontally and align a main feature in each of these general areas.
Soak any brushes that may be stiff by placing the tips in water for a few minutes. Mix a neutral shade of brown or green, depending on your landscape type, and outline the main land masses or centers of focus. These could be mountains, hillsides, islands, shorelines or the like.
Paint secondary features next, such as trees, rocks, waterfalls, rivers, streams, bridges or structures if any. At this point it is all right to use general brush strokes that will be the foundation for the details later. Don't worry about painting every leaf, flower or ripple in the river just yet.
Add the skyline or whatever is backing up the top third of your painting. This starts to pull some depth onto the canvas.
Add soft details such as foliage, shadows and clouds after all the brush strokes for the main objects have been laid down. Add new layers of color for definition.
Step away, step back and see what it needs. It may need nothing but as with all art, a sure way to find out is to step away from it for a little while.
