Get started with Loose Watercolor Landscapes

In the latter half of the nineteenth century, a small group of artists in France began to challenge the traditional norms of landscape art. This group became known as the Impressionists. They revolutionized the art world and are sometimes seen as the start of modern art., Their style and approach to art inspire the artwork I will demonstrate here. Other influences include the Romantic art of Turner and the minimalism of Japanese sumi-e.

To create loose impressionistic watercolor landscapes, you need some materials: paper, paint, a brush, a palette, a glass jar or something to hold water, a wooden board, and some tape to hold the paper while you are painting. Many top-quality brands exist, and all of them can deliver fantastic results, but I know some people are interested in what I use, so here is a list:

  • paper: Arches or Hahnemuehle

  • brush: synthetic hair mop brush, small

  • paint: mostly Sennelier. I use tubes rather than pans

But please use whatever materials work best for you.

The Paint:

I use a limited palette of Sennelier watercolor paint. In other words, I only use a few colors. My spring and summer palette is Cobalt Blue, French Ultramarine Blue, Prussian Blue, and Cadmium Yellow Light. I prefer more earthy colors such as Seoia and blues for winter landscapes. As you start in watercolor, I advise limiting your palette to five or six colors maximum. Why use a limited palette? I recommend using just a few colors for two reasons:

  • I like to keep my art spontaneous and fresh. Having fewer colors to work with makes it easier to choose which color to use, which in turn helps me work fast and keep it spontaneous.

  • Limiting your colors can produce a more harmonious composition and help create a more unified painting. Using too many colors might result in a discordant painting, which is fine if that is your goal, but many beginners feel they need to use all the colors and end up unhappy with the results.

Watercolor paint is often available in two forms: tubes and pans. Pans are small dried blocks of paint that are reactivated with a wet brush. I prefer to use tubes, but everyone has their own preference. I mostly use pure, unmixed paint for my paintings. Other people prefer to mix colors. Your choices about how to use color help to define your art style.

The Paper:

There are many types and brands of watercolor paper. Things to consider include what the paper is made of, what weight/thickness it is, is it internally or externally sized, and whether the surface is rough or smooth.

  1. The best watercolor paper is 100% cotton - it warps less than wood pulp paper.

  2. I prefer paper that is at least 300 grams per square meter (140 pounds). Thinner paper is cheaper but will buckle as you add water and wet paint.

  3. Watercolor paper can be internally or externally sized. Sizing is glue that makes the paper stronger and also slightly waterproof. Externally sized paper produces slightly more vivid colors because the pigment does not sink as deep into the paper. Note: Sizing isn’t always vegan-friendly, so check with the manufacturer.

  4. Watercolor paper is available with different surface textures: rough (= cold pressed), smooth (= hot pressed), and NOT (slightly textured surface). Rough surfaces are good for looser styles.

Brushes:

I use just one brush, a small mop brush. Some people have a large collection of many different brushes, but I like to keep things simple. When choosing a brush, always choose a brush made for watercolor, not oil painting, acrylic, or anything else. Many watercolor brushes are made from natural hair, but if you prefer, you can also get high-quality synthetic brushes. I prefer synthetic brushes.

Some examples of my watercolor landscapes:

Course available on Udemy:

I have a complete course on loose Impressionist watercolor landscape painting on Udemy.

Where to start?

Once you have some painting materials you need to decide what to paint. Be realistic, start simple. A basic landscape using a limited palette. If you are using a photograph you need to simplify it, look past the details to the main shapes, the sky, the horizon, middle ground and foreground. Remember reference photographs are for reference only unless your style is photo realism you don’t need to include every detail. Look at the examples above, each of these paintings has just a few, usually less than five, components. For the first 20, 30 … 50 paintings focus on keeping things simple and developing your own style. This YouTube video may have some ideas that might help some people.

If you would like to follow my art journey with all its ups and downs, I have a Patreon page. There is a free tier and a paid tier for those who want some extra content. I also have a Patreon shop with a few items available, including a PDF booklet with many more examples of my art. It might be helpful for inspiration.

Below is another YouTube video with more ideas. You can subscribe to my YouTube page to get notified when I release a new video (currently, I release a new video every week).

Paul O'neill7 Comments