How to paint an autumn landscape with watercolors. Drawing an autumn landscape in watercolors step by step

When summer ends, the leaves on the trees turn yellow and begin to fall, novice artists are faced with a logical question - how to draw an autumn landscape? My new instructions will help you create a harmonious composition and choose colors. You will learn how to beautifully and easily draw a picture of an autumn landscape near the water with a pencil and paints.

Step 1

In order to draw an autumn landscape step by step, you will need a rough sketch of your future painting. First, outline the horizon line, silhouettes of trees in the distance, the sun, sketch out the foreground. For me it will be a tree, a piece of shore and reeds. So our pencil-drawn picture of an autumn landscape is ready.

Step 2

It's time to move on to color. You can use gouache, watercolor, acrylic or oil paints. Pastels or colored pencils will also work. It all depends on your personal preferences.

First, let's see how you can paint an autumn landscape with gouache or watercolor. Fill the sun with a rich yellow color and the sky with a gradient of blue and blue tones. Near the sun it will be lighter, closer to the river it will be darker.

Step 3

In order to understand how to draw an autumn landscape for beginners step by step, you need to divide your work into several sections. Now let's turn our attention to the trees in the distance. Paint them with a rich orange or brown color, draw in the tree trunks, and make the leaves lighter and richer red shades. This way you can create the illusion of a golden autumn forest in the light of the setting sun.

Step 4

Now pay attention to the reflection of the trees in the water. Make the highlights horizontal, use the same colors as for the trees, just darken them slightly with water colors. Then sketch out the silhouette of the tree in the foreground using black or dark brown gouache.

On a note: My detailed instructions will help even a 2nd, 3rd or 4th grade child draw a natural autumn landscape.

Step 5

Work out the foreground. To make the image three-dimensional, use a variety of shades to draw the reeds.

Step 6

Add bright, variegated leaves to the tree. Don't be afraid of rich colors, because this object is the center of our composition. Set the direction of the river flow using white strokes.

Good afternoon, today I want to put in one article interesting ways to paint an AUTUMN LANDSCAPE. You will see many paintings on the theme of Autumn from different artists. Each of them found their own unique technique for depicting autumn. You will be able to evaluate their approach, understand how to develop your own style in painting and create your own AUTUMN composition. Let's look at autumn landscapes from masters whose paintings we found on the Internet.

Painting AUTUMN ALLEY.

(autumn in the park)

An alley surrounded by autumn trees often inspires artists to try to convey all its beauty. On this topic, make your first acquaintance with two artists at once. Both paint an autumn alley - and in completely different ways.

The first 2 paintings belong to the artist Leonid Afremov... look at him, you can’t help but recognize him - even without a signature, his canvases can be recognized by their characteristic “square” brushstroke. Wide brush marks leave square marks. The whole picture consists of slightly uneven blurred squares.

Especially here (the autumn picture below) the squares of strokes on the upper part of the canvas stand out well.

And here is the lower part (where he displays a wet, almost mirror-like sidewalk flooded with water. It’s worth looking at... learning how he paints water. The reflection in the water is blurred by horizontal refractions of color and light.

Here's another artist Graham Gerken— its feature is a special diffused light that evenly illuminates the entire autumn landscape. A matte lilac-blue haze, against which the uneven contours of the orange blots of autumn stand out in contrast. Everything is weightless and subtle.

Autumn in paintings

how to draw AUTUMN LIGHT.

The brightest autumn is on a sunny day. She's exactly golden. She's radiant. It is impossible to describe in words... is it possible to convey this radiance, this sun in the picture.
Let's see how the artist Leonid Afremov does it.

On a sunny day, autumn leaves are illuminated by the sun and shine like Japanese lanterns... scattering a clear and even glow through them.

And these luminous leaves can be depicted by selecting the desired shades on the palette. Please note that even Afremov’s dark red leaves have a glowing effect (internal illumination by the sun).

On a sunny day, when we look into the distance, through the rays of the sun blinding us, the distance seems whitish and luminous to us. This is exactly how Leonid Afremov painted her in the picture below. I conveyed this sunshine with white and yellow strokes.

And here is the second already familiar artist Graham Gerken(master of blue haze) ... look at how he conveyed the light (by bleaching his already light background colors) and casting light ash-lilac shadows on the sun-bleached road.

Now let's meet the third artist Frank Wilson. This picture is very interesting. On it we can learn how to make a STRIP of sunlight and throw it between the trees - on the side of the road.
And pay attention to HOW the tree trunks and branches are illuminated from the side... they are browned by the sun.

Painting autumn road.
landscape of small forms.

Drawing a small piece of autumn is no easier than a panoramic landscape. It would seem like a small piece of the road. And on it you can convey the autumn mood with paints on canvas.

You can simply draw a road with leaves on it, reddish grass on the side of the road and a row of autumn trees. This is a classic image of a road in autumn.

Or you can complicate the task and convey the relief of old stone steps... cover them with autumn foliage and convey the spirit of autumn.

Let's go back to master Graham Gerken again - look how interesting he depicted a wet road. Its gray color is a matte mirror... in which the transparent reflections of tree trunks are frozen.

But the artist, whose signature I did not find in the picture, painted the autumn road in his own way - its blurred, ragged edge - all from horizontal long strokes (like butter smeared with a finger).

And the dark blue depth of the water... black strokes, white strokes... all this conveys the recent autumn rain.

Painting AUTUMN.

How to draw RAIN.

Autumn is the time for rain. They make autumn brighter and glossier. Now autumn is not only above in the foliage but also below - in the mirror of the asphalt.

You yourself will find your own style of refraction of color and lines in water... try... create. This can be done in different ways. Walk more often after the rain, look with your eyes, imagine that this reality was painted by someone, be amazed at the accuracy of color selection, contrast, beauty of lines, remember and try to convey what you see with colors.

Another artist. Another style. Dmitry Spiros is also a blue haze (skyscrapers). But wet asphalt is already made differently. Smoother, less jagged by reflections of water (than in Afremov’s painting, above)

Painting autumn evening.

How to convey autumn twilight.

Artist Graeme Gerken deepens the twilight - in his own way. His usual background haze DARKENS... becomes less transparent, cloudier. And the rest of the paints (for the trunk and foliage and grass, he takes several tones darker than when painting a sunny day.

For the artist Leonid Afremov, everything is more complicated. This is where the mosaic begins - the war of dark and light strokes. Proportion is important in these puzzles - the more dark “square” strokes, the darker the autumn evening.

And here (photo below) Afremov adopts the HAZY TECHNIQUE... in the distant background he has a gloomy nebula... and believe me, it consists of the same puzzles of square brush marks.

Painting AUTUMN

Trees by the water.

Reflection of autumn in the water surface of a river or lake. Artists love to paint the specular highlights of the orange reflections of trees. This kind of drawing of autumn trees with reflections in the water is even done at school. Usually they draw like this... (photo below) a classic of the genre on the far opposite bank from the artist.
You can draw an autumn landscape like this... but it will be boring. For you. Distant trees, small strokes... non-specific shapes and smearing on the water.

Let's try another autumn landscape with water. Just for beginners to draw autumn.

I’ll immediately advise you to draw a BRIDGE. It is the bridge that will become the main effect in your painting and no one will look closely at the correctness of other elements of the canvas, for example. whether the reflection of the tree matches its original on land. The bridge will hide any shortcomings of a novice artist. Draw bridges over autumn rivers.

If the bridge itself didn’t turn out very well, don’t be sad. Unsuccessful episodes of the bridge can be hidden simply by sliding a tree BRANCH over it in the foreground of the picture (as was done in the autumn picture below).

A stream with a rocky shallow bottom and trees on the shore look good in the picture. But this is already a difficult job... here all the mistakes will be clearly visible.

And here is a picture of autumn twilight by the water - look how the light, the background, the reflection of the waters are darkened here.

And here is the most interesting picture below. Autumn in the form of one tree and its reflection in black water. This contrast of black depth and golden radiance is just a challenge to your skill. Can you convey this?

Autumn landscape

CLOSEUP.

They often paint landscapes, as if from afar. From a mountain, a hill. Or you can draw close up. Like a photo clicked from a few steps. Whatever is in the frame is in the picture.

Here are the trunks of birch trees... but there are no tops. And it is not necessary. This allows the artist to see the bark, foliage, knots close-up, and to convey this texture of the tree and foliage.

Let the autumn landscape in the picture be closer. Close to the viewer.

Ananda, from Southern California, is sharing with you a super fun and quick way to paint fall trees in watercolor! Even if you've never drawn before, you can do it in 10 minutes !

By the way, these watercolor painting techniques are used by many wonderful artists who share these techniques on websites and in videos, so a big thank you to all of them!!

Materials and tools:

• watercolor paper: There are many types of watercolor paper, some are warm ivory, others are whiter, you can compare the first and last image to see the difference. You can use inexpensive watercolor paper.
• brushes: 2 is enough for this painting, I like to use the ones with a nice sharp tip for watercolor, they are great for washing up, and for fine details
• toothbrush: it's fun to use, you'll see!
• watercolor paints: These often come with a lid that can be used to mix the colors. The white plastic plate is also great for mixing colors
• dish - for water, for wetting and rinsing brushes

1: Apply the paint in a very thin layer of washed-out orange or yellow color.

Let the brush absorb a lot of water, then touch the tip with a little color, put one brush on the mixing surface, you will have a very dilute, wash color.

Draw the domes like cloud clusters and don't worry if you get confused, every tree is different and these shapes will help us with the next step.

2: Add deeper color

While the first thin layer is still wet, add more paint color to your brush and apply over the first layer. There is a second brush, dip it in water and apply it to the paper if it is too dry.

This technique is called painting on wet paper. It creates beautiful areas of color with soft edges.

I used some yellow, orange and olive. You can see how all these colors flow into each other as they all have soft edges.

Tips: How to Mix Natural Green

The finished green is too rich, by mixing it with a hint of yellow and red (opposite of green) it becomes the natural olive green on the left. There are endless variations of green, and that's a beauty, and you don't have to mix the same shade of green, every time!

3: paints, tree, trunk and branches

Mix a little brown and black to get a taupe color, start with a pale-wash (as in step 1) in the mold, then color in the deep colors as in step 2. If you're not sure, you can always wash, then later apply dark...

4: toothbrush

It's so fun! Wet your toothbrush, then dip it into the color, I started with yellow, then run your finger across the brush and spray, ending up in the area you want. After the yellow, repeat with the orange and olive green that was in step 2.

5: paint, spray brush

The toothbrush splatter gives us some lovely leaves and misty effects, we'll do a little more splatter in this step.

Let one brush soak in the paint a little, then press it onto the stick, or use the other end of the brush. repeat with different colors for a richer effect.

Finishing touches:You can create a plot of land with some thin streams of olive green and some sprinkling. Darken some of the branches if they need to... Hurray, done!

based on materials from the site www.apieceofrainbow.com/water-color-fall-tree-painting

Art supplies:

• Watercolor: Cerulean Blue, Cobalt Blue, French Ultramarine, Lemon Yellow, Light Red, Raw Sienna, Neutral Tint , Herbal greens (Sap Green).
• Core brushes: No. 4, round No. 8, round No. 6
• Unstretched Bockingford watercolor paper 425 g/cm2 (200 lb)

Thanks to its transparency, watercolor is ideal for conveying the effects of light, including the smallest color and tonal nuances inherent in the subject. However, watercolor is not only paint, but also an entire discipline. Careful planning must be done before applying washes to keep their color as pure as possible.

Control of the watercolor is the key to success. Soft brushes, such as core brushes, allow you to layer paint without damaging the underlying layer of paint. Paintings with unnecessary brushstrokes using too thick layers of pigment or multi-component color mixtures turn out dirty, cloudy, completely different from the transparent luminous washes that are the main asset of watercolor. Use paint wisely and your painting will be filled with sparkling light and life.

When starting to draw, you need to draw up a detailed plan, otherwise in the middle of the work you will want to change and invent something, which will inevitably lead to disappointment. Light must be depicted as it is, or altered for the benefit of composition or design.

If you decide to change the time of day, the properties of light, or the direction of light in a painting, a plan is essential to check that the changes you make will look the way you want.

To do this, you can make a quick thumbnail sketch in pencil or charcoal, or a more thorough sketch in watercolor.

This kind of planning will help you make sure that your idea will work before you devote several hours of intense work. For example, coming up with a new direction of light along with realistic cast shadows can be quite difficult, especially if the composition is multifaceted and has many angles, such as buildings or bumpy ground.

When you paint en plein air, the light usually changes its angle, direction and quality as you work. He may even disappear completely! In this case, preparation is everything. I often start with a lighting sketch, sketching the key shapes of the composition on construction paper with a 2B pencil.

Then I fill the shadowed areas and falling shadows with a single watercolor, such as Sap Green or Neutral Tint. Thus, while I draw from life, I always have a hint before my eyes. My task is to capture one moment, and not constantly reshape the entire composition.

I painted this picture from a photograph, trying to convey the contrast between light illuminated washes and dark shadow areas.

Step 1

I started by accurately transferring the shapes and lines onto the paper using a pencil. There was no need to draw the details, because they will gradually appear when working with paint. First I painted the foliage on the trees rather than the sky to achieve transparency in the colors.

If I had painted the entire sky blue first, it would have shown through the palest yellows and browns of the fall tones, making them appear muddy. By applying watercolors to white paper, I achieved the brightest and purest colors possible. Using a #8 round brush, I mixed Lemon Yellow, Burnt Sienna and a drop of Sap Green, and brushed the paper in loose strokes. I lightly sprayed the paint onto the trees to create broken shapes and show randomly growing leaves.

I covered the highlighted areas of the grass with a wash of Lemon Yellow and Grass Green. I painted the shaded areas with a mixture of French Ultramarine and Herbal Greens. At this stage, the contrast is not yet visible, so the colors appear flat due to the uniformity of tones.

Step 2

Continuing with the trees, I applied a second coat of the same shades and tones, which helped capture the shape and silhouette of the overhanging branches. I also painted in the illuminated areas of the buildings and walls with a #6 brush, using Raw Sienna and some Neutral Tint. I painted the barn door and porch with Cerulean Blue.

Then I added midtones to the distant part of the wall on the left using washes of Natural Sienna, Grass Green and Black Neutral. Finally, I warmed up the lawn by covering it with a pale blend of Natural Sienna and Burnt Sienna.

Step 3

After sitting above the trees for a little while longer, I filled the gaps in the sky with Cerulean Blue, first making sure that the trees were dry. This jewelery work required a very fine brush here and there, but the resulting clear colors of the foliage and sky were worth it.

I then started layering the midtones onto the buildings. It was at this moment that light began to appear in the picture, thanks to the contrast. Don't be afraid to go for dark colors - they will make the light shine. I covered the shadow side of the barn with a wash of Raw Sienna and Neutral Tint, adding pops of Cerulean Blue here and there. I used the same colors to paint the distant wall on the left. After that I painted the top of the illuminated near wall with Sienna Natural and Sap Green.

Step 4

Having finished with the highlights, I started working on the falling shadows. Using a #8 brush, I painted the grassy areas with a cool gray-green mixture of Sap Green, French Ultramarine and Neutral Tint, allowing the bottom wash to show through where the light showed through.

Once the wash was dry, I connected the shadowed areas by painting a shadow across the road using Cobalt Blue and Light Red. I painted the wall on the right with a rich wash of Raw Sienna, Sap Green and Neutral Tint, leaving the highlighted areas at the top untouched. I painted the shadows on the illuminated wall on the right with the same watercolor, after diluting it. After all the shadows had dried, I started drawing the pillars and tree branches.

Step 5

As a final step, I added fine details and dark spots with a size 6 brush. Often you have to resist the temptation to paint such details first, but rarely anything good comes of it - such areas look sloppy. After applying all the tones and shadows, it is much easier to understand what details the composition really needs. In this case, I deepened some of the tones and added thin branches, twigs and pebbles along the road. The combination of this and the previous stages connected the picture into a single whole.