By following these steps of How to Paint Old Barn in Snow with Watercolor, I hope you can create a peaceful and realistic winter scene using watercolor techniques. The steps focus on using soft colors and transparent layers to create the gentle feel of snow. As well as the subtle contrast between light and shadow to add depth to the watercolor painting. !
Table of Contents
Painting the Old barn House in Watercolor
Necessary Materials
For Colors, I’m using three pigments by the brand Sennelier
About brushes, I’m using calligraphy brushes made from wolf hair.
Finally, the paper I’m using is Fbriano Watercolor Paper,cold-pressed 300gsm, 100% pure cotton.
01. Sketching the Scene
Begin by lightly sketching the main elements of the painting on your watercolor paper. Focus on the basic shapes and lines of the house, the trees, or other elements in the foreground.
Ensure that the sketch is simple and clean, as we don’t want rough lines to interfere with the transparency of the watercolor paints. Then, apply masking fluid to cover the highlights.
02. Laying the First Wash
I will start with the background (Sky) for this demonstration. Soak up the large flat brush with a little Clear Water; next, use it to wet and spread out that water evenly in the background of the painting.
Then, apply a light wash of yellow and orange to the horizon area, this helps to create a warm atmosphere in winter for your watercolor painting.
As you move upwards in the sky, gradually shift to cooler colors. Blend the blue and violet smoothly, and use the wet-on-wet technique to let the colors mix naturally on the paper for a soft, diffused effect.
How to do this: apply it to the very top of the painting and work your way downwards until the blue meets the pink pigment.
03. Wash the first layer of the Old barn house
In the next step, paint the walls of the house with earthy tones like warm brown and yellow ochre. The contrast between the warm colors of the barn house and the cool tones of the snow creates a striking balance in the painting.
In addition, leaving parts of the paper white where snow would naturally rest on the roof, windows, and ledges.
04. Painting the Snow in How to Paint Old Barn in Snow with Watercolor
Now it’s time to paint the snow-covered ground. Since snow reflects light, you don’t need to use pure white; instead, use very light washes of blue and purple to indicate shadows and contours in the snow.
Similarly, the snow on the roof is also painted using a very light blue or purple to depict the shadows, while the untouched areas remain white.
Keep your brushstrokes soft, and don’t overwork the paint. In fact, the beauty of watercolor lies in its transparency and natural flow, which can easily be lost with too much layering.
05. Continue painting the Old Barn Watercolor
Next, Paint the windows and other architectural details of Old Barn in winter, you can also add some darker spots on the roof where the snow might be melting or has blown away.
06. Detailing the Roof and Trees
In this step, start adding trees and background elements. The pine trees on the left side of the house are painted using a mixture of dark green and blue, keeping the colors subdued to match the winter scene.
Make sure to add light and shadow to the trees to keep them from looking flat. These details should not be too bold, as the focus of the painting is the old barn house.
In addition, you have to fade out the edges of the trees as they recede into the background, giving the painting a sense of distance and space.
07. Adding Shadows and Depth to the Snow
Pay attention to the areas under the fence posts, around the base of the house, and in the foreground. These shadowed areas will help ground the house in the scene and make the landscape feel more three-dimensional.
Besides, shadows and depth are added to the snow. Use a cool gray-blue color to define areas where the snow is thicker or where shadows fall. This is essential to make the snow look natural.
08. Finishing the Details of Old Barn In Winter
In this finishing step, add final details to the house, such as wooden beams, small windows, and additional shadows on the building.
In addition, you can also add some final touches to the fence and other elements in the foreground. Finally, Suggest additional details to suggest the deterioration of the wooden walls of the Old Barn In Winter.
09. Key Tips of How to paint an Old Barn in Snow with Watercolor
- Keep the washes light in a winter scene, the less color intensity the better. Let the white of the paper work to your advantage.
- Use a limited color palette: Stick to cool tones like blues and purples for the snow and sky, and warm earthy tones for the house.
- Work in layers and allow each layer to dry before adding more details to avoid muddying your colors.
Soft edges and gentle gradients are important in creating the softness of snow and winter light.
In short, If you want to continue improving your watercolor skills, I am more than happy to provide more detailed instructions on other subjects like landscapes, seascapes, portraits, etc. Stay tuned for the next article that I will prepare for you!