6 Simple Tricks to Add Instant Depth to Your Watercolors

Mastering Depth in Watercolor: 6 Easy Tips for Beginners
Welcome back to the studio! In today’s video, we are breaking down the secrets to creating an optical illusion of vast space and depth on a completely flat piece of paper. I will share 6 straightforward tips on how the atmosphere changes what we see, covering both aerial and linear perspective in a way that is simple to understand.
After we go through the quick exercises for each tip, we will bring them all together and paint a rustic landscape featuring a farm shed, distant hills, a muddy pond, and some simple fence lines. Grab your brushes and let’s get painting!

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⏱️ Video Time Stamps
• 00:00 – Introduction
• 00:26 – Tip 1: Soft Edges vs. Hard Edges (Wet-on-Wet vs. Dry Paper)
• 05:07 – Tip 2: Using Tonal Value to Paint Distance
• 11:53 – Tip 3: Warm Colors vs. Cool Colors
• 22:58 – Tip 4: Color Vibrancy (Dull vs. Bright Colors)
• 26:20 – Understanding Aerial Perspective
• 26:36 – Tip 5: Object Overlap & Cutting Lines
• 27:20 – Tip 6: Relative Size & Linear Perspective
• 29:08 – Step-by-Step Landscape Demonstration (Putting it all together)
• 32:55 – Adding Textures and Splatter Techniques
• 35:05 – Painting Distant Trees & Creating Mid-Ground Layers
• 41:10 – Foreground Elements: The Closest Tree & Muddy Pond
• 44:16 – Detailing the Rustic Farm Shed, Hay Bales, and Shadows
• 55:40 – Final Details: Fences, Posts, and Grass Textures
• 59:05 – Wrap-up and Outro
Materials used:
Paper - Arches Cold Pressed 37 cm x 27 cm
Paints – All Winsor and Newton:
French Ultramarine
Cobalt Blue
Cobalt Turquoise
Permanent Rose
Cadmium Orange
Cadmium Yellow
Aureolin
Burnt Sienna
Raw Sienna
Raw Umber
Brushes:
Round brushes, size 12 and 8
Large Mop brush for wetting the back of the paper
Stiff hog hair fan brush
Waterproof backing board held at about 20 degrees

Видео 6 Simple Tricks to Add Instant Depth to Your Watercolors канала Joe Cartwright