How to Paint Dappled Shadows in Watercolor

The light effect that we refer to as “dappled” creates a particularly pleasing atmosphere, both in real life and in art. There’s something soothing about shadows created by the natural world, something captivating about their movement. 

But how do we create this dappled light in our watercolor paintings? This video offers you a step-by-step guide to paint this scene with dappled shadows, and, if you keep reading, I will give you some clear methods to achieve this effect in any watercolor scene. 

How to Paint Shadows Created by Foliage and Trees

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What is Dappled Light?

Dappled light is such a fun description of a pleasant bit of familiar light play. But in case you need a more precise definition, dappled light (or dappled shadows) are those most often created when a semi-direct or direct light is filtered through foliage or trees. When this happens, it creates scattered and irregular light shapes on surfaces (like the grass, asphalt, walls, or plants). 

This is what I mean when I say “dappled light” or “dappled shadows”. 

4 Methods For Painting Dappled Light in Watercolor

1. Use lifting for dappled light and shadow. 

Lifting is a method of removing paint from your watercolor paper, revealing either the white of the paper or the color laid underneath one layer. Instead of defining the shadow shapes by painting around them, this allows you to regain some of the lighter values and create the kinds of splotchy, elliptical shapes that are true to life.   

Depending on the way you’d like the blots to look and the kind of control you want to have, you can use either a dry paint brush, paper towel, or sponge to lift the paint and to stop the flow of water to an area. These will all create a slightly different effect, so experiment a little before you start your painting and choose what best suits your scene.

In this scene I used a dry brush to pick up wet paint, creating the kinds of dappled light shapes that complemented this scene. 

2. Use layering when painting shadows in watercolor.

In the first wash of this painting, I laid down my lightest values. Then I lifted some paint in key areas for the dappled light effect (see description in previous point). To retain the lifted areas throughout the painting process, I did not skip my next layers. Instead, I painted around the dappled light as I painted the large connected shape in my second wash and added the darks and details in my third wash. 

This isn’t always easy, but those light areas scattered across the scene can only be as effective and bright when you are able to include a full range of values in your scene.

3. Mist your paper in the shadow area.

As you progress through the watercolor painting process I outlined in the previous tip, it can be difficult to keep the soft edges of your dappled light. That is why, before I put paint brush to paper in my second wash, I misted the foreground with a spray bottle of water. This helped to keep the edges between the shadow and light nice and soft. 

Also, if you have some already dried paint that you want to lift off the paper, use a wet brush to carefully loosen some of the paint on the paper, and then use a dry brush to lift it. This, too, will give you nice soft edges. 

4. Think about the light source when you’re creating shadow shapes.

It’s important to know how shadows work when you paint them. Take some time to observe shadows in real life. Notice how they change depending on how directly the light is hitting an object. Notice their color, their shapes, the way they’re connected to the object casting the shadow. 

When you paint dappled shadows, remind yourself that shadows have harder edges the closer they are to the light source. The further away from the light, the softer the edges get. As an example of this, notice how, beneath the section of my painting that is doused in light (with my figures), I have a hard-edged shadow. Compare this to the soft-edged dappled shadows in the part of the scene that is further from the light source.

Full Tutorial in Video

It can be hard to visualize painting advice, so if you’re curious about one of these methods, make sure you scroll up and watch the video tutorial. I go step-by-step through the watercolor painting process I used to paint this scene. I hope it inspires you to try your hand at some dappled light and shadows!

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