Watercolor Landscape Painting

Assignment

Your assignment is to create a landscape painting using watercolor paint. You will need to create the illusion of space, value, and light.

Overall Learning Objectives:

Students will learn to mix watercolor paint.
Students will learn to layer watercolor to control the value and opacity of the paint.
Students will understand perspective and how to create the illusion of space using foreground, middle ground, and background.
Students will utilize a variety of watercolor techniques such at wet on wet, wet on dry, dry brush, etc.
Students will learn to stretch watercolor paper.

Examples

Student Examples

Seniya D. 2023

Kareena H. 2023

Katrina H. 2023

Watercolor Materials

Watercolor tubes colors:

Cadmium Red- lighter brighter red, good for orange
Alizarin Crimson - darker red, good for purple
Burnt Sienna- orangish brown
Yellow Ochre- natural yellow tan
Lemon Yellow- bright yellow
Sap Green- lighter natural green color
Hooker's Green- dark green/ evergreen color
Cobalt Blue- light and bright blue
Ultramarine Blue- bright but deep blue- good for making purple
Burnt Umber- dark brown
Ivory Black- solid black, use minimally
Payne's Gray- grey but can be layered to black
Chinese White- white color, can appear opaque, use minimally

Other essential materials:

Watercolor brushes- natural soft brushes
Paint pallet- cleaned from other types of paint
Water cup- any container to hold water and wash your bush
Paper towel- necessary for controlling the amount of water in your paint

In Class Practice

Watercolor Color Wheel - 20 points

Learning Objectives:

Students will learn to mix watercolors
Students will layer watercolor to create darker values
Students will control the opacity of the watercolor paint

Directions:

Measure and cut watercolor sample paper.
Draw out color wheel onto one of the 6in x 6in paper squares.
Paint a 12 section color wheel with three values each.

Colors included:

Red
Red-orange
Orange
Yellow-orange
Yellow
Yellow-green
Green
Blue-green
Blue
Blue-violet
Violet
Red-violet

Measuring and cutting watercolor sample paper:

Preparing Watercolor Paper.mp4

2. Draw color wheel onto 6in x 6in watercolor paper square:

Drawing Colorwheel.mp4

3. Painting the 12 section color wheel with three values each.

Watercolor Colorwheel Demo.mp4

Watercolor Sampler- 20 points

Learning Objectives:

Students will practice several watercolor techniques such as wet on wet, wet on dry, wash, gradation, resist, watercolor lift, etc.
Students will gain experience painting a variety of landscape features using watercolor paint.
Students will learn to control wetness of the paint to achieve different results.

Directions:

Divide a scrap piece of watercolor paper into 6 sections
Label each of the sections
Use the more specific directions to complete each space

Materials:
watercolor paper

watercolor paint

pallet

watercolor brushes

paper towel

water

clear oil pastel

Watercolor Techniques - A Comprehensive Guide to Watercolor BasicsIf you have ever looked at watercolor art, you would have noticed how beautifully it flows. This medium is easy to be drawn to because of how fun and vibrant it

Sample Sheet Set Up

Directions:

Divide sample paper into 6 even sections with masking tape
Label each section with the following

Section 1: Sky
Section 2: Flowers
Sections 3: Water
Section 4: Tree
Section 5: Mountains
Section 6: Cauliflower back run

Write your name in an empty space

Full length demo: (individual demos down below)

Watercolor Sampler (Full Length).mp4

Sample Section 1: Sky

Sampler: Sky .mp4

Techniques:

Wax resist
Watercolor wash
Brush wipeout
Tissue wipe out

Directions:

Draw a cloud with a clear oil pastel
Create a watercolor wash over the whole section
Use a dry brush to wipe out another cloud shape
Use a tissue to wipe out another cloud shape or lighter area

Sample Section 2: Flowers

Techniques:

Gradation
Wet on wet
Wet on dry linework

Directions:

Paint a gradation in the background from light to dark'
Paint the center of the flower while the background is still wet- let the color bleed a little
Wait for section to dry
paint stem and petals with detailed lines

Sampler: Flowers.mp4

Sample Section 3: Water

Sampler: Water.mp4

Techniques:

Wet on wet
Wet on dry
White highlights

Directions:

Paint a thin water layer over the whole section
Using a blue, paint a series of horizontal marks going back and fourth
While still wet, add a darker blue using similar marks
Wait for layers to dry before applying darker tones in the same horizontal jagged motion
Experiment with white highlights once dry

Sample Section 4: Tree

Techniques:

Wet on wet
Wet on dry
Layering value

Directions:

Create a wash of color in the background
While still wet, paint a light tree line in the back
Wait for section to dry completley
Paint tree trunk with a lighter brown, add some leaves- let dry
Paint a darker brown in some shadowy areas on the trunk, add darker areas of leaves

Sampler: Tree.mp4

Sample Section 5: Mountains

Sampler: Mountains.mp4

Techniques:

Layering watercolor
Creating opacity
Dry brush wipeout

Directions:

Draw several mountain sections with pencil- lightly
Start painting them in with a very transparent color- allow the tops to be a little darker
Wipe out the lower side of the mountain with a dry brush
Add more layers of color to the lower mountains- you can use multiple color varieties
Continue layering mountains towards the bottom until there is a transition from transparent to opaque

Sample Section 6: Cauliflower Back Run

Techniques:

Wet wash
Multicolor gradation
Cauliflower back run

Directions:

Start by painting a thin layer of water over the whole section
Add a lighter blue
Add a darker puple towards the edges- slightly blend with brush
While still wet, blotch a new color onto the piece and let it bleed and blend
Try doing this and experimentign with a second color.

Sampler: Cauliflower Back Run .mp4

Summative Assessment

Assignment:

Your assignment is to create a landscape painting using watercolor paint. You will need to create the illusion of space, value, and light.

Requirements:

The composition needs to have foreground, middle ground, and background.
The composition needs to have a color story.
Your painting needs to have color mixing.
Your painting needs to have value.
Your watercolor paper needs to be stretched.
You may use a combination of sharpie pen and watercolor.

Planning & Design

Learning targets:

Students will understand foreground, middle ground, and background
Students will develop a theme for their painting
Students will develop a color story for their painting
Students will draw a composition with depth

Directions:

Using the form provided, answer the reflection questions to brainstorm your idea
Collect reference photos for your landscape
Create 5 thumbnail sketches
Create one final sketch

Watercolor Landscape Planning and Design Assignment

Part 1: Brainstorm Composition

Theme: what subject matter do you want to paint?

Fantasy - landscape with a surreal spin on it

Urban landscape: a city setting

Natural landscapes: scenes including mostly nature- any environment

Stylized: Not necesarily reaslitic

Perspective and Space: What is Foreground, Middle-ground, and Background?

Foreground is what I closest to the viewer. The size of subjects will be relatively larger, darker, crisper, more detailed.

Middle ground is the mid layer. Usually what is in the middle ground will be smaller in scale than the foreground. Lighter, less opaque, less detail.

Background is the layer furthest back. As objects go back in distance, they also become smaller. As objects go back they also get lighter, more transparent, less detailed.

Horizon line a physical/visual boundary where sky separates from land or water. It is the actual height of the viewer's eyes when looking at an object, interior scene, or an exterior scene.

Color Story: Selecting a Color Scheme

Triadic Color Scheme

Complementary Color Scheme

Analogous Color Scheme

Part 2: Gather Reference Photos

Using your phone camera, old photos, or Google Images, find parts of landscapes to use as reference.
The goal is not to copy a photo directly, but to use a combination of reference photos to create a composition. Don’t choose an image to copy directly unless YOU took it.
Journey outdoors to photograph the world around you.
Gather at least 5 reference images. Gather a variety of close up shots and wide angle shots.
You may collect images from online, however, they cannot be your only ones.
Consider the "Golden Hour" - sometimes known as magic hour, is the first and last hour of sunlight during the day when a specific photographic effect is achieved due to the quality of the light.

Part 3: Create Thumbnail Sketches

Create 5 different thumbnail sketches that experiment with how to arrange your composition in different ways.
You need to represent foreground, middle ground, and background in your drawing.
Decide which composition you like best

Part 4: Full Page Sketch- In Color

As a final step in preparation for your large final painting, draw out your favorite thumbnail composition in your sketchbook.
It can be a rough drawing but the focus is on placement of color and composition.
Consider your light source and placement of value.
Experiment!
Color with whatever colored materials you prefer- colored pencil, crayon, oil pastel.

Process

Learning Targets:

Students will learn to stretch watercolor paper
Students will select an outline material based on whether they want a soft or hard edge in their design
Students will create watercolor washes from the background to the foreground in their designs
Students will layer watercolor to create value and the illusion of light

Directions:

Stretch watercolor paper- let dry completley
Draw your design out lightly onto the paper
Begin painting light washes of watercolor in the background and work your way forward into the painting
Add value and detail with layers
Remove your finished watercolor painting form the board