How to paint a winter landscape

Step 1:

On your preferred size of white paper or canvas, use pencil to lightly trace a circle for a moon and a curving line for the horizon.

Tints & Shades

Consider your monochromatic color scheme. It may be helpful to practice painting a value scale that features the original, out-of-the-tube color in the middle. To create tints, add white to the color . To create shades, add black to the color. Black is a powerful color when mixed with others, a small “pepper flake” of black paint will alter the original color.

Step 2:

Paint the moon solid white. For the sky, create a radial gradient that graduals blends colors in a circular motion. Mix tints (color + white) to create the glowing moon effect. Some artists choose to highly blend their colors so there are no visible brushstrokes, while others prefer to leave visible, expressive brushstrokes.

Step 3:

Continue painting the sky. Once you reach the original hue, begin painting the shades by slowly adding black. Bring the sky all the way to the horizon line.

Step 4:

Paint the snowy ground white making sure it meets with the sky. Even if your surface is white, it is still recommended to paint the ground white so the finalized textured is the same as the rest of the artwork.

Step 5:

If dry, use pencil to light sketch the triangles which will become the wintery pine trees. If not dry, use black paint or the back end of a paint brush.

The trees closest to the bottom of the picture plane will be the largest. As you move towards the top of the picture plane, the triangles will gradually get smaller.

Paint these trees solid black or a dark shade of the original hue.

Step 6:

Mix a tint of your original and use it to create cast shadows on the snowy ground and textured lines on the tree. Consider the direction of these lines. A helpful thought is it is like painting mustaches!

Step 7:

On the side closest to the bright moon light source, use white paint to create a highlights.

Step 8:

Repeat steps 6-7 for the rest of the trees. The trees off in the distance will have less detail.

Step 9:

Splatter white snow on top to give it the final wintery touch!

Student examples:

My beginning level middle school artists had a great time painting this with acrylic paint! It took roughly 3 45 minute class periods. We painted on 10 x 11 Bristol board paper. Instead of the cobalt blue, we opted for a turquoise color. Once students learned the basic compositional layout, they are encouraged to add their own creative details. Students included city silhouettes, stars, ornaments, snowmen, and more! I love how unique each painting was, and how each student found their own unique painterly approach to adding the texture on the pine trees.

*Hey teachers!* Click here for my TpT shop if you’re interested in this lesson, which features a full slideshow presentation, specific grading rubric.