Creating Depth in Watercolor (The Three Keys)

If you're tired of flat and dull paintings, then this week’s video is for you.

I'm offering you 3 keys to creating depth in your painting. Creating a sense of depth in your work can take you from a flat, ordinary scene to a piece that is evocative, beautiful, and inspiring.

Before I get to the 3 keys, though, I think it's important to remember the goal of the foreground, the middle ground, and the background.
The foreground should lead the viewer into your scene. You want to create enough interest without making it too distracting.
The middle ground should captivate the attention of your viewer. This is typically where the focal area will be.
The background should be just that - background. It should complement the scene, depict distance, and not distract from the middle ground.

Here are the 3 keys to creating depth in your painting:

1. Cool down the background. When I say cool, I'm talking about color temperature. Warmer colors typically bring things forward, and cooler colors push things back. So we want to use cooler colors in our background.

Think of it this way. If you're painting a landscape scene and there is a group of trees and those trees stretch into the background, well, as the trees get further away from the viewer - further away from the foreground - you can use a little bit more blue in your green mixture. And up close, you use more of a warmer green. That is going to help you push those trees further back into your scene.

2. Simplify. We want to eliminate distracting details and determine what is most important in your scene. Remember that your middle ground is where you want most of the attention to be. If there's a lot of complicated elements in the background of your scene, simplify it.

For example, if you're painting a street scene and there's a lot of buildings in the background, you can include those buildings, but try to group them together and eliminate some of the detail that isn't needed.

3. Use less texture and less contrast in the background. In the same way color can bring an area or an object forward in your scene, less texture will push that object back. The same thing goes for contrast. Contrast is a difference in value. So if you have a brighter area next to a darker area, there is more contrast there. So you're going to want the largest amount of contrast typically in the middle ground around your focal areas.

A good rule of thumb is the part of your painting that has the most color, the most contrast, and the sharpest edges is the part of your scene that's going to get the most attention. That's where our eyes go. Minimizing those things from the background is going to help us push that background further back.

If you can use these three tools to create a good sense of depth in your work, it's really going to take your paintings to another level.

I know that there are many places where you can learn about watercolor, and I love that you are here watching my video. It means a lot to me. I do appreciate it. So keep working at it. Keep moving forward in your growth as an artist, and I will see you next time!