Paint This Evening Lake with Me

When I make full-length tutorials like this one, my hope is that you watch it once through to get a feel for my process, and then you watch it again as you try your hand at it. You're welcome to come back to it as many times as you want, focusing on different aspects of the painting and honing your watercolor skills little by little.

What Supplies Do I Need?

Let's leave nothing to guess at here. 

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

I use a variety of brushes, but mainly stick to a large mop brush, a medium round brush and a smaller synthetic brush with a point. If you want more information about brushes, check out this guide about brushes. If you want to purchase some of the brushes I use, visit my Amazon Affiliate Link.

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

First Wash - Evening Lake Watercolor Painting

For this phase of the painting, I am concentrated on the lightest values of the scene and preserving the white of the paper in places I want to do so (like where that little boat sits in the back). This phase should be pretty abstract. Think about the colors you want to shine through the subsequent washes, and consider where you want the lightest, brightest focal points of your painting.

I paint this as a wet-into-wet wash, allowing colors to mix on the page.

Second Wash - Evening Lake Watercolor Painting

The second wash is all about finding that large, connect shape and adding the middle values. Notice how the lightest values operate under this wash. We want this rich complexity of color and shades. 

Also look at the trees. The tree line in the distance is blurry, undefined, and a muted color green. This is intentional in order to create depth and dimension in the painting. Compare them to the trees on the left-hand side of the painting that are clearer, more detailed, and a more vibrant green. This pushes them forward in our painting. 

Third Wash - Evening Lake Watercolor Painting

The third wash is for the darkest values and the details that really defined our shapes and subjects in the painting. I worked hard in this phase to add the reflections of the trees in the water (without overworking it) and defining the ripples in the lake. 

A More Detailed Step-by-Step Guide in the Video

I hope that you take the time to watch the full video. It is full of tips and tricks that are much easier to convey via an audio-visual medium. Try your hand at this scene - or a similar water scene you've been wanting to paint - and let me know how it goes!

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