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Hello friends! Today, I’m sharing a lovely fall landscape watercolor with you. I worked with this client on three previous custom paintings of similar size and subject and this painting was a fourth and final addition to their collection.

The watercolor is based on a photo they sent and I began by “masking” the tree and branches so I could paint the sky without touching the delicate branches. Masking fluid is a tacky substance that protects your paper from paint. You can use it to preserve white areas that would otherwise be too tiny or complex to paint around. Learn how I use it in this tutorial. Once the sky was complete, I gently removed the masking fluid using my fingers and a tweezer. To create the trees and foreground, I built up multiple layers of brown, green, and yellow paint. To complete the painting, I outlined the trees and branches with Sakura Micron pens (sizes 0.30mm and 0.35mm).

Take a look at some of the progress photos below:

Inspiration photo

Progress 1:

Masking fluid with sky background

Progress 2

Beginning layers of foreground and leaves

Progress 3:

Final touches with the Sakura Micron pens.

The final watercolor is below! Need a custom painting to jazz up your apartment or celebrate a big accomplishment? Email me here and we'll get started on a custom order.