Hi everyone,
This winter has been quite warm, and there hasn’t been any snow in the city. Spring is just around the corner.
In this post, I’ll be sharing the process of painting a snowy landscape. The composition is simple, with the main elements being a snow-covered mountain and the sky.
Painting Materials
Brushes:
Escoda Versatil #10 https://rb.gy/r7c0qz
Prado #8 https://rb.gy/dzdvzo
Paper: Arches 300 gsm / Cold Pressed
Paints: Mainly Ultramarine (White Nights), Dust Violet (Van Gogh Watercolors)
Download sketch
Step 1
Use simple lines to outline the shape of the snow-capped mountains. Don’t worry about adding too many details at this stage. If desired, you can also lightly sketch the shape of the clouds.
Step 2
Evenly apply clean water to the paper, using a wet-on-wet technique for the first base layer. Start by painting all the lighter areas of the scene. Use a light gray to add shadows to the clouds, then continue down to add soft shadows to the snowy mountain.
▼ You can mix blue and orange to create the gray. Adjust the ratio to produce different warm or cool gray tones. More blue will give a cooler gray, while more orange will give a warmer gray.
Next, move on to painting the sky, primarily using Ultramarine mixed with a bit of deep violet. Since the paper is still damp, we can paint the blue sky and leave soft-edged white clouds. The clouds aren’t completely white; they also have the light gray tones we previously added.
Step 3
Next, use a dark gray color to paint the foreground and the parts of the mountains not covered by snow. Take your time here and avoid painting too much at once. Create varied brush strokes, using different angles such as side sweeps or dots, and make use of both the tip and the body of the brush. You can also apply quick strokes to create sharper or drier textures. This is an ideal time to use the stippling technique, which can give a very clear effect.
Step 4
Once the main dark rocks are complete, you can enhance the mountains’ depth by adding light gray to specific areas, creating a sense of volume. You can observe the difference in the gray tones between Step 3 and Step 4, which adds more dimension to the mountains.
Step 5
Finally, you can add some finishing touches by using opaque white paint to sprinkle a bit of snow over the scene!
