Woods Path Painting Tutorial
Watercolor Painting Tutorial

Painting Demonstration 1

I begin with a pale golden loose wash on the upper part of the painting. I want the backlit area to glow.

I paint a cooler, cobalt blue and cobalt violet, wash on the lower part of the painting. This area will be shady woods.

Tree trunks connect the two areas.

Painting Demonstration 2

After it's dried slightly, I start with the first of many texture layers. The woods have wonderful dappled lights and shadows, layered on each other. So I need to paint many layers to achieve that texture.

I loosely paint the tree limbs and leaves in the correct shapes, but I'm more worried about texture and warm, rich colors at this point.

Painting Demonstration 3

I'm starting to add a little detail and some more intense darks in this layer. Notice how the cool, luminous tree trunks connect the cool and warm areas of the painting.

A lot of the tree trunks and leaves in this layer are more detailed, but a lot will be buried under later layers, so this isn't the time to get fussy. Just keep the bottom area cool colors and the top part glowing golds.

Painting Demonstration 4

A few more darks in this layer. I want more texture and contrast at my center of interest. The edges outside that area should blur a bit.

Painting Demonstration 5

A few of the darks have been softened here, as I planned. The layers of the beech leaves and a few lingering green leaves are getting deeper.

Painting Demonstration 6

Loblolly pines reflect a lot of what's around them. The flat plates of their bark act like dull mirrors. So I need a lot of hit and miss texture to get the rich darks - but with reflecting planes.

Painting Demonstration 7

Time to finish up the path with a lot more texture and detail at the far end, since it's my center of interest.

I want deep, horizontal shadows across the path, but I don't want them to misdirect the viewer's path through the painting. The answer is a lot of texture and hit and miss strokes to break them up slightly.