This tutorial teaches beginners how to paint realistic and textured watercolor mountains using four techniques. The tutorial covers the majestic peaks, rolling slopes, and ever-changing colors of mountains, providing a captivating subject for watercolor paintings. The tutorial also teaches how to effectively manage watercolor medium to depict the intricate textures and varying hues of mountainous terrain.
To create a realistic watercolor mountain, follow these steps:
Lightly sketch a jagged line at the top of a mountain using reference photos of mountains.
Paint a layer of water and dab a small amount of blue onto the paper while it is still wet.
Add details to your watercolor landscapes using watercolor tips.
In this beginner-friendly watercolor painting tutorial, the author shares techniques, tips, and tricks to help beginners create their own watercolor mountains. The tutorial emphasizes layering watercolor mountains, adding details to landscapes, and following watercolor tips to create a visually appealing and engaging watercolor landscape.
📹 PAINT MOUNTAINS LIKE A PRO USING THIS EASY WATERCOLOR TECHNIQUE
Hello my friends, In this video I’ll be sharing with you my favorite technique to create these realistic and textured watercolor …
📹 How to Paint Mountains in Watercolour – 3 Easy Ways!
A Step-by-Step Guide on How to Paint Mountains in Watercolour – 3 Easy Ways by Professional Artist Paul Clark Tip Jar: …
Hello Jackie. Im back here again, re-learning mountians. At first, my mountians came out fantastic and my trees were blobs. Now my mountians are steadily getting worse. I thought I’d look this article over to see if i forgot something. My trees have improved, at least. I can make good ones about half the time, so i just need to practice more. I love the way you paint trees. I didnt appreciate your mountians until I started messing them up! Thanks again for your instruction. Wish me luck!
Iced coffee drinker here!! I’m pretty new to watercoloring, I just started in July and though this isn’t the most “beginner friendly” I found this to be SO SO SOO helpful and not as hard as I thought it would be!! Thank u for breaking this down in a way that’s so simple and easy to understand!! I found all of these intermediate or not so beginner techniques really fun and easy to follow along to and was left looking at mountains I couldn’t believe I painted!! Thank you!!! ☺️☺️💚
This was such good information and instruction for me! I live in Northwest Montana so the landscape nearly always includes mountains. I am about 7 months into watercolor, drawing, ink and wash … at 69. I was teased about my art as a child so I sometimes battle that inner voice that says “I am not a good artist”. Thankfully, via words like yours I have learned (mostly) to enjoy the process and redefine “good”. I tried all of the techniques and will practice more, but I am liking my mountains – thank you!! I know this is a year old article, but … I am mostly a coffee drinker: hot, strong and black or for a treat a mocha latte. I also enjoy Rooibus (red bush) tea and other herbals. I have a tuxedo cat, Oscar (3 years old) and an English Shepherd, Emmett. I live rurally on wooded acreage so we get outside a lot! I loved hearing your cats playing in the background!
Jackie, I totally enjoyed your article for mountains! I am a new water color painter I just started a couple months ago! The fact that you include your pallet to the left and your water to the right to see how you use them is so helpful! Looking forward to perusal more of your articles. Thank you so much for what you do.
Love your articles and painting style. I actually came to your website for the trees but I figured some mountains might be fun to learn too. I’m a coffee drinker here… since my kids were born. lol. I also don’t take dairy so I enjoy Silk Almond Vanilla creamer in mine. I want to like oat milk but I don’t find it a creamy as people say.
Coffee mornings, tea at night. I enjoy your laid-back approach and the “no one way” to do things. You simply showed us a few approaches, which is nice, because some may find one style better than another for their abilities/style. IMHO, agonizing over “how good it is or isn’t” is one of the fastest ways there is to suck the fun out of a painting.
Hi Jackie, I drink both. I have been an artist for many years now and I’m just getting my feet wet in water color. I came across your article in the shorts and I just wanted to say I love your work. I subscribed and will continue to watch and learn. Thank you for putting yourself out there. I know it can’t be easy. Stay blessed.
It took me about 6 months, but i finally have a painting that looks half way decent! I had to cheat a little, i used a hard canvas with gesso, since overworking is something I can’t seem to control yet. But it worked, so thank you so much for helping me add to my arsenal of what I can accomplish! You are an extremely good instructor, and so talented! My mountians look fantastic. You rule!❤❤
Thank you so much Jackie for sharing your techniques with us. I have always struggled with mountains while trying to teach myself water colour. You have really opened my eyes to this wonderful medium. I am 68 years old and have been trying for a while now with no success. The way you talk us through the processes is so calming and relaxing without any stress that it has to be perfect, is wonderful. I love your way so much. Thank you once again. You now have a new subscriber 😊❤
Cats are wonderful!!! I Can’t imagine how I could live without one. They are so clearly just themselves, it is you that adapts ; you cannot shame a cat, they will look at you and seem to sat “what’s your problem, ” They can and do learn, they can know what ” NO ” means, but if they really want it and can get it…. it’s theirs !!!!
I fell asleep perusal this article. Not in a bad way! It was just so soothing and I was learning so much, so I had to rewatch some parts lol. You have such a beautiful way of showcasing your work area and your voice is so soothing. So, just a warning – if you’re sleepy AND creative – this is your article … just make sure to rewatch it when you’re going for coffee rather than chamomile tea. lol. Thank you for this tutorial. I just moved to the Rocky Mountains and must, must, must paint what I see out my window 🙂 where did you get that votive candle spinny thing? I MUST HAVE IT!! lol ♥♥♥
Thank you so much for this! I love that you showed different kinds of mountains. Also, there’s not a lot of tutorials that focus on mountains so this is a great find for me here in yt. Usually they include it as a part of a landscape. As a beginner, I try to start small. Learning to paint just trees, leaves, grass, clouds is less overwhelming than an entire landscape. I really appreciate these! Also love that you mentioned using brushes that holds less water. I’ll try changing brushes when doing or practicing dry brush technique
Thank you for the tutorial. i tried to do it lik😢e you, but it didnt come out well. So, back to practice. Im glad you have these detailed instructions on your technique, as i had to take the tree tutorials too. Now i have to control my water so that my trees dont look like blobs. There’s alot to remember! Like all good artists, you make it look easy. Also-the paper towel trick was extremely helpful. I think might actually get a viable painting in a month or so. Yes, im slow. Ive been working on a moonscape for about 5 years! But I’ll get it. Art is (for me) a learned skill. It doesn’t come naturally, like music does. But im fairly pleased with the finished works that I do have. I did a colored pencil wolf that came out a lot better than i expected. Maybe i should stick with colored pencils? Or try watercolor pencils? Its an idea. I may try some, just to see what happens. Anyway, I’m blabbering. I really like your paintings, and your technique. You are talented! Your voice is soothing and you’re good at explaining things. I appreciate your patience. You are also very beautiful, both inside and out. Ill let you know how it turns out. Oh, and i like coffee with cream and sugar, but when i paint i mostly drink the brush water.🤢
Wow. Im so excited I found you. I will be binge perusal all weekend from Australia. Is this the article that you referred to in the beginners mountain article, as the dry brush technique, or is that another article ???. Thanks so much. Love your style. I might even be brave and attempt a misty scene. I also love them, but cant do landscapes.. LOL.
I’m a new subscriber and I love tutorial! I just started drawing/painting ( I have never drawn anything!) I can’t wait to try this because I’m having a hard time with landscapes. I am a coffee and tea drinker, coffee in the morning and herbal tea at night. I am trying a new Mushroom coffee that is supposed to be very healthy for you and it’s not to bad😊
Nice, simple techniques for doing mountains…start with basics like this–I especially like the monotone look, I have Mayan blue–great color for mountains! Sodalite is another good one, and I’ll try Sepia as well. Coffee or tea? I drink both but consume more tea because I make my own, I buy loose tea by the lb., Assam is my favorite. I can’t make decent coffee to save my life, so I stick to my tea. I inherited the crankiest, nastiest, ill–tempered cat ever when my mom passed away in 2016. To make things even worse, I’m most decidedly NOT a cat person. And that’s all I have to say about that.
Hi Jackie I really enjoyed your article!!! Lol I’m a tea drinker in the summer and a decaf coffee drinker sometimes in the winter! I love all of the mountains that you painted! You make it look so easy! I like your reassuring voice! We have one cat! I’m a new subscriber!!!! What paints are you using???
Going to ATTEMPT to start my painting from a picture my wonderful late son took of the Tibetan/Chinese side of Chomolungma/Mt Everest. He and his friends were in an RV, After a harrowing drive across thin, slippery dirt mountain roads in some snow..they got to an open feild with some water..even a flowering bush sticking a branch into the shot I’m copying. It almost looks like a desert flower we see here in the US. The article a girlfriend of one of his friends took from her RV USED to be here on YT. Unfortunately, YT claimed her completely Un-political scenery articles were “propaganda” and removed them. Another friend, a Canadian, went to the same spot and took some breath-taking articles that were up for about 5yrs..removed for the same reason. Unsure how breathtaking scenery is political propaganda, but…whatever. Our friends think it’s because Western media constantly pushed that the only Chinese folks on social media were bots or spies…Uhmm..yes, US Social media IS banned from the free Chinese intranet. But, for years now, over 80% of Chinese pay the equivalent of about $9/mo for access to everything, including YT. A Chinese food blogger from Wuhan..they removed all his and his wife’s articles from 2020. Totally non political but he made the mistake of asking my son and I to translate so people around the world could see the reality of a young family in shutdown at the start…removed within a week. Anyways, thankfully I have my sons pictures and screenshots of Xiaowei’s dashcam, going around the corner and seeing Chomolungma in the distance.
WOW! WOW! WOW! That’s like Three Cheers but WAY heartier. Paul, you could not have done a more wonderful tutorial on mountains. I had watched your previous series, which was also awesome, of course, but this was just SO great! Thank you for everything you and our lovely Margot do for us, it is very much appreciated 👏❤️🍁🍂🇨🇦
“You don’t have to copy me.” Lol, one thing I’m absolutely learning on this beautiful watercolor journey is it’s impossible to copy another artist especially with this loose style. Just try and copy Paul fellow artists, just try (cracking myself up). Excellent article and need to give that cling wrap a go again since it’s been awhile. Thank you for sharing Paul and Margot. And even though you’re in the UK, I’m saying Happy Thanksgiving to you guys and to your sister that lives across the pond here in our wonderful Florida Paul.
Thank you sir, for giving your time and sharing your incredible talent….. I’m a novice watercolourist (5 months) who knows he’ll never achieve your level of skill and expertise, but who finds every one of your articles truly invaluable….you’ve added countless new possibilities to my journey, for which I must thank you…. p.s. the clingfilm technique looks priceless!
Thank you very much Paul! You are such an unbelievably gifted teacher! You are the one who really hold me off giving up on watercolor at moments of blackest despair. I follow you for about three years now, my very first brushes are from your shop and all this time I can always find a wonderful motives, unvaluable knowledge and skills, funny atmosphere, encouragement without hundred hours of theory about values, perspektive and proportions. When a poor student is desperate and lost, one step away from giving up then the dry theory is a wrong way. I AM such a student and often you are my only rescue. At least I still paint with watercolor till now. Thank you so much!
Dear Mr. Clark, for about 2 years I dreamed of learning to work with watercolors. I studied (mostly theoretically) all brands of paper, all pigments. The point is that watercolor landscapes just tormented me for these 2 years. And although I watched a lot of workshops and subscribed to many websites, I painted poorly, especially landscapes. I didn’t know how to mix paints, I didn’t understand why. But after only one of your lessons, I was able to paint the sea, the rocks, the lighthouse. Indeed, a miracle happened! Progress has been so rapid, I thought, maybe I’m in a different reality! Thank you very much. You are a genius teacher!
It is a jolly good informative book, my favourite at the moment and have not been able to put it down. You have a good way of communicating; “Imagine you are with me in the medieval street of the village of Verrucola in Tuscany” drawing your readers into the project. First I read the book from cover to cover before starting the projects which I am enjoying learning these new skills. Also a big thank you for the 45 printouts! What a lovely gesture. Lovely website. Like your book, your Youtube is different, I keep coming back for more 😊. I practice practice & practice each and every day, I love watercolour but it is by having good tutors who truly take an interest and enjoy sharing their knowledge that who get their details across. BIG Thank you Paul. ✏️🎨🖍
Thank you so much for your article and explanation! Painting landscapes is my stress reliever and most of the time I don’t try nor want to make something pretty or realistic. I mostly just drop colors here and there, mix watercolor paint, pencils, wax pencils… I just go however I feel like. But lately I’ve been painting a view that included mountains, and a friend of mine wanted me to finish the piece for him as a Christmas gift. The thing is that I had never painted mountains before so that was making me anxious. But your article helped immensely. Your way to explain things make everything easier. 😊 I’ve been able to finish my painting and I’m quite excited about it. Thank you again for sharing your time and experience with us. 💕
Dear Mr Paul Clark! I saw your tutorial, three weeks ago and note on a paper, : 3 ways to colour mountains number three… How to say you : thank you!!!, to day I paint this lake and mountains and for the first time, with my eyes, I feel proud before my aquarelle… I appreciate so much what you do, and do for all of us…and the beginning of every tutorial, with your touch of humour! Happy evening from south of France
Thanks heaps! I’ve watched many vids on painting mountains but none of them come close to what and how you teach it, your attention to detail is so appreciated. You are, kind sir, an excellent teacher; I need not search out any more vids as I have found what I’ve been looking for. At 70 I’m afraid I’m done with having babies but if I had another son I think I’d want to name him Paul. LOL.
I thought you wasn’t going to have a tutorial this morning but I still checked when it was 8 o’clock. These three paintings are dynamic! Wonderful works of art as usual! Thank you so much and also thank you for the teaching the tecniques like how use the credit card to remove the paint. These are new methods I just learned.
Loved the song for the third painting too! Perfect. Thank you for sharing all these tips. I must start dropping your name more often, you deserve more subscribers. Speaking of names, I believe I started perusal Bill Alexander when I was a kid and never knew who this Bob Ross was until grown and flown. So sad not many remember that Bill was the first to say ” Happy little tree…”. Anyway Paul Clark is a name I enjoy talking about. Thanks again.
My favorite scenes to paint are mountains with water, so the third mountain was my favorite! Tried the cling wrap and it worked very nicely. Thank you so very much for all you do for us! You are a great artist and a wonderful teacher…and thanks for the encouragement about making the painting our own. It’s impossible to do an exact replica of a watercolor! One thing I would like to see sometime is your palette as you paint. Water to paint ratio would be interesting to watch as you do your magnificent artistry.
Paul, I was wondering if any of your tutorials explain the difference between gouache and watercolor and how to paint with gouache.Thank you. All of the articles I have watched are great when it comes to the explanation part, the ones you have done on brushes, paper and different brands of watercolor paints have been useful and helpful. And this week’s article was, as usual, superb.
Enjoyed your latest tuition article. 👍 Mountains and Glen’s are my strongest and most enjoyable subject to paint, having climbed many hills in the Scottish Cairngorms, I understand the shapes, textures, and shadows that daylight can cast on the landscape… I tend to use a short almost dry rigger brush on its side, and glide it across the paper to capture the rock faces, crevices, and shadows. Drop in some mauve, or violet for some heather, and a touch of yellow ochre……🏴🎨🖌️
Thank you so much for this article! We’ re right back from beautiful Scotland and your third picture reminds me so much of Loch Lomond and it’s surrounding – so I will try to paint the scenery by the help of your advise. You are such a value to people, wanting to paint with watercolour and being entertained at the same time. All the best and greetings from Germany 🌞
Hello Paul. I have just realised I have your book, ‘Watercolour Techniques & Tutorials For The Complete Beginner 2017 – 2021. I have been enjoying the book going for the last three months & suddenly saw your photo on the back page today! How funny! I was that engrossed learning, I never realised you are one & the same 😅😅😅🎨🖍
I always learn something from your articles because you explain why you are doing whatever. I have very limited exposure to real mountain places. In fact when I was awed by the mountains in Indiana, USA I was told those are hills, not mountains. 😲 I’m only 5 months in with this new adventure in watercolor but I will give mountains go.
Love all your articles! So glad to find this one! I have a picture taken while on vacation in Montana with snow on the mountains that I was hesitant to try because I wasn’t sure how to approach it. As a new artist I have learned so much from your articles, also chuckle when it’s time to let the paint dry 🍺! Thanks from North Carolina
I am a pianist and composer. Trying to copy your painting would be like me trying to play as well as Horowitz did or compose music a well as Beethoven. You are the BEST watercolorist, Paul. I am a FAIR artist. I’ve done oils, acrylic and watercolor. But you, dear man, are right at the top of my list for excellence in watercolor. You give such helpful tips and I consider you to be my art teacher. Thank you so much for teaching with such patience, detail and love.
Great effects, you sure are the master of the no 6 brush! Definitely need to try the credit card trick. Can you do a session on how to paint fabric please? I know some people find it easy, but I can never get the folds to look realistic. Love your sessions, thank you so much. Learning a lot from you. 🤔🤗
You are a phenomenal teacher and I continue to learn so much from your articles. You’re also quite funny! I do have one question which I suspect you’ve answered elsewhere so apologies, but do you generally paint on a flat surface or at an angle? I can’t seem to get my backgrounds to blend as well as yours do.
Awesome, totally awesome! I’m fascinated with the mineral paints (painting with crystals!), but had set them aside since they don’t spread well in washes. In your last article, and reinforced in this one, I learned to use them FOR the fact they won’t spread as much. Light bulb! Can’t wait to try these mountains. Thank you to you and Margot who offer so much information and inspiration.
Thank you, Paul ! Particular heartstroke for the second demo… And your final touch with the white pastel pencil to mark the ridges of the mountain, … I really admire your technique. Those ridges in this painting are so subtil and important, it is my opinion… I will try this and I already decide to post the result on the FB group page, for the first time, just to give me the go, the impulse (gosh my English !) 😉
Wonderful lesson as usual! (I prefer number three because of the happier colours and the water.) Here’s an idea, just an idea, absolutely not a request: Perhaps you might like to do a painting that takes longer, dividing it into episodes, maybe as an Advent calendar? We wouldn’t know what the final result would look like until the end of the final episode. It would have to be a subject that everyone likes, though. Hmm, I don’t know what everyone likes. A village scene, perhaps…
Paul, who originally started the ” cling film ” technique? I see that you use the sharpened end of your paintbrush, whereas some people use a twigg sharpened from their Garden to pull grassy details. How do you come up with these different techniques? Do you just try some different things to see how they will work or someone actually started these different approaches to enhancing your art work
Good morning dear Paul! I really liked your article, as always I am delighted!Thank you for your efforts.Paul, don’t forget that Wednesday, December 8, will be the International Day of the artist and I hope that you will prepare something interesting and unusual for us!I wish you good luck and, most importantly, health first of all, do not forget about us, your subscribers! P.S.!”Good morning to all the roosters and all the people of the Canary Islands!Hooray!😜😊🤩🐓🐓🐓”. This is how I greet every morning the inhabitants of the Canary Island of La Palma, where the volcano erupts and the early roosters Nigel, Rusty and Gavin are crowing and the most important thing is next to the island of La Gomera.Mark it Paul!I wish you good luck…..
I’m having difficulty with your card technique; when I try it, it doesn’t work as well unless I scrape off the top layer of the paper. Is that how it’s supposed to work? I was pointed to your tutorial by two different people in two different Facebook watercolor beginner groups. I’m new to this, so thank you for your tutorials and your lovely work!