How to Paint A Winter Landscape in Watercolor

Mar 09, 2026

Snow scenes are one of my favorite subjects, but it has taken me some time to get them right.

Today, I'm going to let you in on the process I use to paint realistic - and beautiful snow scenes.

Step by Step Guide to Painting Light and Shadow on Snow

What Supplies Do I Need to Paint this Snow Scene?

I am painting on Saunders Waterford Cold Press 140lb paper, and I have my surface tilted to 35 degrees.

I use a variety of brands of brushes, but I mainly stick to a large mop, medium round and smaller synthetic brush with a point.

Here are the list of pigments on my palette:

Burnt Sienna
Cadmium Red
Cadmium Yellow Medium
Cerulean Blue
Cobalt Blue Cobalt
Teal Blue
Cobalt Turquoise
Lavender
Neutral Tint
Payne's Gray
Quinacridone Gold
Raw Sienna
Raw Sienna Light
Raw Umber
Rose Madder Permanent
Ultramarine Blue

If you would like to purchase some of the brushes I feature in this video you can take a look at my Amazon Affiliate link: https://www.amazon.com/shop/m.white.art

Reference Photo

Seeing the Values

Drawing

First Wash

Third Wash

Related Blogs

Mountain Demo - Paint Along With Me

Simple Watercolor Tutorial - Paint This Old Barn

Simple Watercolor Demonstration - Paint A Building In Light