VINEYARD IN AUTUMN: Watercolour landscape tutorial. Step by Step

I painted this picture inspired by a photo I made during an autumn holiday we made. La Provence is a lovely area in the south of France.  We have been so lucky to find a house to rent in the middle of a Vineyard. We had no neighbours and the only visitors were the dogs living in the main house. They used to eat the sweet wine grapes that the collector left on the plants. From time to time, we had also the visit of a wild boar.  It was a beautiful and very inspiring landscape to paint. This is one of the paintings I painted after. Now let’s paint and get inspired!

Let's get started

MATERIALS:

PAPER:

• Cold-pressed, Watercolour ca 36 x 48 cm (14” x 19”).

COLOURS:

• Yellow Ochre, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, Permanent Alizarin Crimson, Permanent Sap Green, Burnt Umber. Cerulean Blue, Cobalt Blue, Ultramarine Blue. Chinese White, May Green (Winsor Yellow + Permanent Sap green or Winsor Green Blue Shade), Perylene Green (alternative Ultramarine Blue and Permanent Sap Green), Indigo.

BRUSHES:

• Number 1, 6, round good pointed.
• Rigger No 1 or 2
• No. 24 or above flat to wet the paper.

OTHER MATERIALS:

• Saral transfer paper and transparent paper.

STEP 1:

1. Copy and transfer the drawing onto your watercolour paper.

 

STEP 2:

1. Wet the sky area and the pathway with clean water then apply a wash of Cerulean Blue. While wet paint the background trees top sides with Cobalt Blue.
2. Now, paint some shadows on the pathway,  between the wines rows with Cobalt Blue letting some white spaces in between the lines. Allow drying.

STEP 3:

1. Paint now the conifers and evergreens of the right side With a fine pointed No. 6 round brush alternate Cerulean Blue, Cobalt Blue, Perylene Green and Permanent Sap green To suggest these greens all you need to do is to draw with the brush small chains of ” u” forms Dry on Wet.
2. Now paint the trees on the left side of the house with the same colours but stippling with the brush and taking care by painting, to alternate paint some branches and trunks in positive and pother ones in negative painting.

 

 

STEP 4:

1. Paint the left side of small distant mountain vegetation with a pale Perylene Green leaving empty white spaces in between.
2. Mix Yellow Ochre with Chinese White and a minimal touch of Permanent Alizarin Crimson to get a soft warm yellow and paint the houses with it including the roofs.
3. While the houses are getting dry, fill a flat Brush No. 24 with a pale Raw Sienna or Quinacrinode Gold and paint the entire vineyard with it.
4. Before the colour dries,  emphasize some wine rows lines with a thicker (creamy consistency) Raw Sienna taking care, not to overwork and leave the foliage light.

STEP 5:

1. Erase a little to the lines of the drawing if you haven’t done it before. I haven’t done it so that you see better what I am doing.
2. Paint now the details of the roof with a fine brush No. 1 or 0—alternating colours of Raw Sienna and Burnt Sienna. Paint the gutter lines with a dark blue as Indigo or Burnt Umber.
3. Once the roofs are dry,  paint the small cypress with Perylene Green and add a little extra foliage on the left side of the chimney.
4. Add a little Chinese white to Cobalt Blue and paint the shutters of the windows.
5. Paint the inside of the windows with a dark mixture of Indigo and Cobalt Blue.

 

 

STEP 6:

1. Paint now all the wine foliage except the left upper side with Winsor Yellow. Allow all to dry.

 

STEP 7:

1. Paint with a Brush No 0 or 1 the plant of the house wall. Start with a light May Green then continue increasing the values with Permanent Sap Green and Perylene Green. Finally, add some spots of Raw Sienna.
2. Paint the distant rows of the wine plants in a very spontaneous way. Start filling the No. 1 brush with May Green or Cerulean Blue or both and paint a raw of points following the direction of the lines then change the colour quickly to a darker value and repaint some spots here and there very spontaneously also.
3. Suggest some vine  with Raw Sienna
4. Mix now Permanent Sap Green with a little Burnt Sienna and paint some greens in the parterre of the house. Use the same Green to suggest a few lines on the front side of the pathway that runs between the house and the vineyards.

 

STEP 8:

1. Paint now the foliage of the foreground wine strains. Start painting some leaves alternating the colours and taking care to start with the lightest values as Winsor Yellow and May Green and a pale Cerulean Blue.

 

 

STEP 9:

1. Continue painting the wines’ foliage with darker greens and Brunt Sienna, always alternating colours. Here again, you will need to work spontaneously, keep the drawing lines as a size guide but do not try to give them a form. It is not necessary.
2. Apply also a first pale glaze with Burnt Sienna to the wines trunks.

 

 

STEP 10:

1. Mix Burnt Sienna with Winsor Violet to get a dark brown and paint the vine trunks with it.
2. Paint also the left side stone and iron stem with it. Allow all to dry.
3. Now is the moment to have a look and decide if you need more greens or reds in the foliage.
4. With the brush no. 1 and a dark Burnt Sienna paint the small branches of the vines.
5. Paint now with the rigger, some few blades of grass with Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna and Green.
6. With the rest of the colour and some drops of water add a few more details to the floor and spatter here and there a little taking care to protect the upper side of the painting.
7. Finally, make a check-up of the oranges. The foreground plants need to have a little stronger values as in the background. Use any orange you may have as Cadmium orange or Winsor Orange to add some colour accents here and there.
8. Have a look at the painting from a distance, add details without overworking. FINISHED!