Wintergreen Watercolor Tutorial

O, Christmas tree, how difficult you are to bring inside! These watercolor tree paintings are much simpler to display in your home and are a joy to make. Using only few colors and some simple techniques, you can enjoy these evergreens well beyond the Christmas season. This painting is taught by Elizabeth Reeves and has minimal editing so you can paint along with Elizabeth in real-time, just like a class in the studio.

Supplies:

Grab a kit or gather the following supplies:

6 watercolors: emerald blue (lighter blue), prussian blue (darker blue), sap green (lighter green), hooker’s green deep (darker green), cadmium red deep, payne’s grey
small and medium round brush
watercolor paper
paper towels
cup of water

Some helpful tips:

Scroll down for a few photos of each step. Here are a few things I learned while painting my own wintergreen watercolor:

I cut the lid of of my paint well so I could use it as my palette.
I used very little paint.
I used the smaller brush for the tree and the medium brush for the ground and sky
For the snow, I used mostly Emerald Blue with just a touch Payne’s Grey and Prussian Blue for the snow. Put your color at the bottom of your “snow blob” and then drag to the top with just water. This will help it look “white.”
For the tree, I used both greens and some Payne’s Grey
Use one piece of paper as your “tester.” This will help you find a color mix you like and let you master your “snow technique” before committing to the real deal.
Leave some white space around the edges of your tree so it looks like there is space between the branches.
Once I filled in all the green, I went back with a darker color mix (more Payne’s Grey) and added brushstrokes to look like pine needles.
It’s always better to start too light and do a second layer to darken things up a bit.