Paint Tree Reflections On Water (Simple Watercolor Tutorial)

Learn how to paint tree reflections in water in this simple watercolor tutorial. Painting reflections on a body of water is fun with this easy-to-follow online art lesson!

Seeing reflections on a lake, ocean or river is often an amazing gift from nature. Capturing these scenes in watercolor might seem like a challenge for beginning painters but can be very simple when using the correct techniques.

Focusing on the surface of the water, you can create a perfectly smooth reflection or add some small ripples to the water. Adding more details, such as trunks or branches, to the trees, is optional, or just keep the forms very straightforward.

Follow along in this video art class to paint simple watercolor trees and then discover how to paint their reflections in water. Using simple materials, just watercolor paint and brushes, anyone can turn a blank piece of paper into a stunning work of art.

Materials

• Watercolor paper - I am using 140 lb. Strathmore Vision cold press watercolor paper cut down into a 6 x 9-inch piece. 
• Watercolor paint - tube watercolor paint on a pallet or a box kit of watercolor paints. Don’t worry if you don’t have the same colors, you can use whatever you have on hand. I use: 
  • Black
  • Burnt umber
  • Ultramarine blue
  • Viridian green
  • Cadmium yellow
  • Cadmium red light
• Paint brushes - I am using #4 round, 3/4 inch flat
• Water  - 2 cups (optional) one for cleaning the brush and one for clean water
• Paper towels

Video Tutorial Painting Reflections

Transcript

[read more]

Hi welcome! I am going to show you how to paint tree reflections on water in this simple watercolor painting tutorial. I have mixed together brown and black. I'm going to start by just painting in the horizon line and using a little bit of black to add some more texture and shadow to the front part of that land.

Now I've mixed together viridian green and yellow and black. I am keeping my brush strokes nice and loose, just getting kind of a basic tree shape because these trees are kind of far away I don't have to worry about adding too much detail.

I'm going to leave a little gap between the second and third trees because I'm going to go back in later and add a different colored tree.

I'm going to add an orange tree just because I really like that color in this composition. I'm just going to pretend it's autumn and these leaves are going to fall off the tree pretty soon. 

Try to avoid overlapping the green with the orange very much because when it dries it'll probably become a little bit muddy. Just try to keep the colors separate as much as possible.

I'm using my brown-black mixture again and just adding some shadows to one side of the tree. You could add it to either side of the tree, I'm just adding all my shadows on the left side of the tree. Maybe a few shadows towards the bottom as well.

 And I can also add in a few hints of branches or trunks if I like. I'm going to use that same brown-black mixture to add the shadows in the orange-colored trees as well.

There we go. Now I'm going to go back in with some yellow highlights on the other side of the tree, on the right-hand side keeping most of the the highlights right up towards the top. Maybe a few on the front.

And some yellow up there at the top of the orange leaves. All right, because watercolor painting is largely about building up layers of color, I'm going to add in some more of that green just right down the middle of these trees again in really nice loose strokes, but that adds a lot more color and texture. 

Now, you might have noticed that I have two cups of water. One is for rinsing my brush and the other is clear clean water for the next step. So I am just filling in this bottom area with clean water for a wet-on-wet technique. I want my paper to be pretty wet, let the water soak into the paper a little bit so it's just damp.

Now I'm using ultramarine blue starting out right here in the foreground and then blending it out back up towards the trees. 

I'm going to leave it just a really nice soft blue so I can primarily concentrate on the tree reflections. There, I just lifted off a little bit of that blue so it's just a little bit too much. Working quickly while this blue area is still wet, I'm going back in and painting in a mirror image of the trees up above.

And so the idea is when this dries the colors are going to blend together really well and it is going to look kind of like a reflection.

 You can also leave little gaps, gaps without color in this water, like horizontal striations without color in it. That will help, that will make it look like there are little ripples in the water. 

Or when you're all done, when it's all dry you can actually go back in and lift out little horizontal lines if you like that look. I kind of like the perfectly smooth water look for this painting but it's kind of fun to try different techniques.

All right so again adding in those orange trees. Now I am adding in my shadows. The shadows are still going to be on the left, the highlights are still going to be on the right but make sure to look at your painting, at your trees up above and really try to mirror those same darks and lights.

All right, going in with the highlights on the right side of the reflections just a little bit of yellow here and there. The yellow on the tops of those orange trees and of course the brown-black shadows on the the autumn tree as well. 

Like I said when this dries it should all blend out together and and just give a nice kind of soft reflection impression, however if you want it to be a little bit more, more blurry you can always go back in after it's completely dry and add a little bit more water to it just really gently, clean water, and then let it dry again and that will help, help the the blending a little bit more. 

I've added in again that same green to it to add more texture to the middle. So that's all there is to painting reflections on water. Thank you for watching. If you like this art tutorial video please like and subscribe. As always you can find more details about this and other art lessons at ArtLookLearn.com. [/read]

Art Lesson

• Prepreation
  • I have two cups of water for this tutorial. One is for rinsing my brush and the other is clean water for brushing on the paper in the wet-on-wet technique. 
  • Add a few drops of water to each of the colors you will use.
• Paint the land and trees
  • Mix brown and black and paint in the horizon line. Add a little bit more black on the lower part of the land. 
  • Combine green, yellow, and black paint. Keeping the brush strokes nice and loose. Paint in several basic tree shapes, not worrying about too much detail.
  • Leave a gap between the second and third trees. Paint an orange tree in this area and another at the end of the cluster of trees Avoid overlapping the green and orange so the colors do not become muddy.
  • Add some shadows to one side of all the trees and toward the bottoms using a brown-black mixture.  Add in a few hints of branches or trunks, if desired. 
  • Paint some yellow highlights on the opposite side and the tops of the trees.
  • Paint more green in the middle of the trees in loose strokes to add more color and texture. 
• Paint the water and reflections
  • Paint clean water on the bottom half of the painting for a wet-on-wet technique. Let it soak in so it is just damp. Make sure it is not too wet or too dry. 
  • Add some ultramarine blue, starting in the foreground and then blending it back towards the trees. 
  • While this blue area is still wet, paint a mirror image of the trees from up above. When it dries, the colors will blend and look like a reflection.
  • If desired, leave a few horizontal gaps without color in the water to make it look like there are ripples in the water. Alternatively, when it is dry you can lift out little horizontal lines. Leaving the water smooth is fine too.
  • Paint in the shadows and highlights in the reflection in the same manner as above. 
  • Using loose strokes, add green paint to the middle part of the tree reflections. Look at your painting and try to mirror the same darks and lights in the water.
  • When your painting dries it should all blend into a nice soft reflection. If you want it to be a bit more blurry after it is completely dry, gently brush on some clean water and let it dry again.

Variations

• Experiment with making the water perfectly smooth, slightly rippled, or very wavy. Do this by leaving horizontal strips of white within the blue paint of the water.
• Try adding some sky behind the row of trees.
• Make the water a different color. Perhaps is it more green than blue or maybe it is reflecting an orange or red sunset. 
• Challenge yourself and add a boat or bird on the floating in the water in the distance.

Tips and tricks

• After you paint the clear water on the paper for the wet-on-wet water, work quickly to paint all the trees before the area becomes too dry. You will want the paper to be damp. There should not be water sitting on the surface.
• It can be tricky to use a wet-on-wet technique and may take some practice. If the paper is too wet the paint will spread out too much and become diluted. If the paper is too dry the trees will not blend and they will not look like a reflection.
• If you overwet your paper, simply wait several minutes until it dries to the right dampness. If your paper is too dry simply brush on more clean water.
• Paint the water closer to the bottom of the paper (in the foreground) darker. Darker colors appear to come toward the viewer and will help give the painting depth.
• Using watercolor paint can become easy with regular practice. Keep working on your skills!

Instructions

Paint Tree Reflections On Water (Simple Watercolor Tutorial)

Learn how to paint tree reflections in water in this simple watercolor tutorial. Painting reflections on a body of water is fun with this easy-to-follow online art lesson!

Equipment

• Watercolor paper  - I am using 140 lb. Strathmore Vision cold press watercolor paper cut down into a 6 x 9-inch piece.
• Watercolor paint - tube watercolor paint on a pallet or a box kit of watercolor paints. Don’t worry if you don’t have the same colors, you can use whatever you have on hand. I use: Black, Burnt umber, Ultramarine blue, Viridian green, Cad yellow, Cad red light
• Paint brushes - I am using #4 round, 3/4 inch flat
• Water - 2 cups (optional) one for cleaning the brush and one for clean water
• Paper towels

Instructions

Preparation

• Use two cups of water for this tutorial. One for rinsing the brush and the other for clean water for brushing on the paper in the wet-on-wet technique.
• Add a few drops of water to each of the colors you will use.

Paint the Land and Trees

• Mix brown and black and paint in the horizon line. Add a little bit more black on the lower part of the land.
• Combine green, yellow, and black paint. Keeping the brush strokes nice and loose. Paint in several basic tree shapes, not worrying about too much detail.
• Leave a gap between the second and third trees. Paint an orange tree in this area and another at the end of the cluster of trees Avoid overlapping the green and orange so the colors do not become muddy.
• Add some shadows to one side of all the trees and toward the bottoms using a brown-black mixture. Add in a few hints of branches or trunks, if desired.
• Paint some yellow highlights on the opposite side and the tops of the trees.
• Paint more green in the middle of the trees in loose strokes to add more color and texture.

Paint the Water and Reflections

• Paint clean water on the bottom half of the painting for a wet-on-wet technique. Let it soak in so it is just damp. Make sure it is not too wet or too dry.
• Add some ultramarine blue, starting in the foreground and then blending it back towards the trees.
• While this blue area is still wet, paint a mirror image of the trees from up above. When it dries, the colors will blend and look like a reflection.
• If desired, leave a few horizontal gaps without color in the water to make it look like there are ripples in the water. Alternatively, when it is dry you can lift out little horizontal lines. Leaving the water smooth is fine too.
• Paint in the shadows and highlights in the reflection in the same manner as above.
• Using loose strokes, add green paint to the middle part of the tree reflections. Look at your painting and try to mirror the same darks and lights in the water.
• When your painting dries it should all blend into a nice soft reflection. If you want it to be a bit more blurry after it is completely dry, gently brush on some clean water and let it dry again.

Notes

After you paint the clear water on the paper for the wet-on-wet water, work quickly to paint all the trees before the area becomes too dry. You will want the paper to be damp. There should not be water sitting on the surface.

It can be tricky to use a wet-on-wet technique and may take some practice. If the paper is too wet the paint will spread out too much and become diluted. If the paper is too dry the trees will not blend and they will not look like a reflection.

If you overwet your paper, simply wait several minutes until it dries to the right dampness. If your paper is too dry simply brush on more clean water.

Paint the water closer to the bottom of the paper (in the foreground) darker. Darker colors appear to come toward the viewer and will help give the painting depth.

Using watercolor paint can become easy with regular practice. Keep working on your skills!

Frequently Asked Questions

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