Paint a small watercolour landscape

Make it: Paint a postcard landscape

Start here · 50 minutes

Gather: Watercolour paper, two brushes, water, and three colours

Step by step

1. Choose your own outdoor photo or view. Draw two tiny thumbnails with a horizon and one clear foreground shape.
2. Mix a pale sky colour and test it on scrap paper. Wet only the sky area, then lay one light wash.
3. Let the sky dry. Paint distant shapes lighter and softer than the foreground.
4. Add one darker foreground shape and only two or three details near your focal point.
5. Let the sheet dry flat. Compare it with your thumbnail and note where the eye goes first.

You're done when: The postcard has a readable foreground, middle ground, and background without every area being equally detailed.

Next project: Paint the same view twice

2 hours

1. Choose one of your own landscape references. Make two value thumbnails with different focal points.
2. Paint one small version with a light sky and soft distant shapes; let each wash dry before adding stronger foreground marks.
3. Paint a second version with a different crop or focal point, keeping your palette otherwise similar.
4. Compare where a new viewer looks first and use only two or three final details to strengthen the clearer composition.

You're done when: The pair shows how changing composition affects the same scene.

Course plan

1. Reduce the scene
2. Mix a limited palette
3. Lay broad washes
4. Create depth
5. Review the focal point