Make Your Next Watercolor Really Pop - Creating Depth
Feb 02, 2026When you are able to transform a thin sheet of paper into a scene with depth and realism, this can feel like magic.
But magic can feel fleeting. Sometimes it works out and looks great, and other times, the painting session can be a disappointment. The strategies I share today will give you more control, stacking the odds for a successful painting in your favor.
3 Foolproof Ways to Create Depth in Your Watercolor Paintings
It's always best to have an example to accompany lessons, so today I'll be walking you through a painting I completed that was inspired by the scene below.
When you're painting a scene with such sweeping distances, it's all the more important to reach for these tools to create depth.
So, let's explore these tips to paint with depth.
1. Use Color to Create Depth
The first strategy I used when painting this scene is using color to my advantage. Cool and dull colors recede into the distance. Warm and saturated colors bring subjects forward.
Notice in this first wash how I made sure to not have too saturated a sky and to mute the colors of the mountain (especially the summit farther back in the distance). As I moved into the parts of the painting that are quite far away from the mountains, I created more saturated mixes and used warmer colors.
2. Minimize the Background
The second piece of advice regarding creating distance in your paintings is to be careful not to overwork your background. While in the photo reference above, you can see lots of detail - craggy rocks, individual trees, even what appears to be trails up the mountain - adding all this detail to your painting takes away from the illusion of depth you're trying to achieve.
Instead, I gestured toward these aspects of the scene. I created an impression of the mass of tress and rocky side of the mountain. This allows the middle and foreground to take center stage and really emphasizes the distance between the tree in the foreground and the mountains in the background.
3. Be Strategic with Texture
Like color temperature, texture also can be used to bring parts of your painting forward.
Remember, the subjects that get the most detail will "pop" into the foreground.
This is why you see a lot of texture on the tallest tree in the foreground and on the field in front of it and not so much behind it. The texture on this grass is the reason it feels closer to the viewer than the meadow between the tree and the mountain.
Implement These Fundamental Strategies For More Depth
So, if you're looking to improve the depth in your watercolor paintings, follow these three simple tips: use color strategically, minimize the background, and add texture wisely.
Related Blogs
How To Depict Sweeping Distances With Watercolor - 3 Concrete Tips
