How to Paint Misty Night Landscape | Acrylic Painting

All right so let's lay down the acrylic starting with primary blue, deep green permanent, primary red, then cadmium yellow medium, titanium white, and mars black. All right so first thing we're gonna paint the whole canvas with our first layer. Mostly cool colors for this one just to set the mood early on. Let's grab our number six flat brush. Really nice for covering large areas fast. Perfect for laying the first layer. We don't want to go too dark in this part because if our first layer here ends up too dark it's going to be harder to make it glow later on. And yeah for this first layer you actually don't need to worry too much about getting the exact colors right. What's more important is capturing the right tonal values in each section. As long as the light and dark areas are in the right places we're doing fine. We're basically building a foundation here. So when we go for the second layer later on the colors will sit nice and solid on top and look more opaque right away. So again in this glowing area we don't want to have a dark base around here. We'll keep it lighter so the glow really stands out later on. Remember if you go too dark too early it's gonna be hard to bring that light back. So just softly blend in some lighter tones there. And now let's start mixing the colors we need for number six flat brush and we'll begin with the sunset glow. Let's have this nice orange color and brush it in around here. Also a bit of this lighter yellow orange. And as you can see it sits solid on the canvas right away. And that's because with the help of our first layer underneath. Just makes everything more solid and opaque on top. And yeah no need for precise strokes right now. We're just trying to capture that soft transition of light. So let's start brushing in these cooler tones around here. Just softly spread them out. Then let's add some red to help transition it nicely. So it doesn't feel too separate from the warmer area. And then up on the top part we will go in with this darker cooler tone. This will help brim the light and give that soft moody contrast in the sky. Just keep your strokes light and a bit random. But don't over blend. It's nice to keep some of those subtle variations showing through. They add a lot of atmosphere to the background. Now using our dark mix let's start shaping the mountain peak. Try not to make the shape too perfect. Keep those edges a little soft and uneven. Then let's blend in some lighter cooler tones around it. We don't want this one to look like a solid silhouette. Instead we're aiming for that soft atmospheric distant effect. With a bit of fog wrapping around it. And that hazy look really helps push the mountain back to the distance. Making the whole scene feel more realistic and peaceful. Then let's go back with a lighter cooler tone. Start brushing this in gently on the top area. With just soft overlapping circular strokes. This will make the sky look smoother and a bit more refined. While still keeping that subtle variation of tones. So just take your time here. Keep blending. Step back once in a while. And look at the overall mood. The more care you put into this stage. The more depth and realism you will get later when you start adding the middle ground in the foreground. So for the bottom area of this mountain. We don't want to go too dark. We want it to look like it's mostly covered with fog. Kind of fading softly into that mist. So let's just add more titanium white here. Touch up blue. Touch up red. Now let's layer it right on top of this area. Just like that. Nice and easy. You'll see it instantly lifts the value and adds that nice soft glow we want. We don't need to blend anything yet for now. I'm just like smudging the paint over it. Same with the fog down here. As you can see I'm smudging the paint a little harder here. Applying just a bit more pressure with the brush. I'm doing that on purpose to get that more misty diffuse effect. When you press a little firmer. It kind of pushes the paint into the canvas. Softening the texture and breaking those hard edges. But you have to be careful not to overdo it. Too much pressure can lift the paint underneath. Especially if the layer underneath is still wet. I think let's tighten up this area a bit more. Let's add more fog down here. Really make this mountain look super foggy. Like there's someone grilling barbecue down there. Just want that thick misty atmosphere that kind of hides the bottom part of the mountain. Alright so I think we're done with the background. So let's move on to the middle ground. We will start adding those distant trees. So let's start using our Ingle brush. Load it with this slightly darker bluish gray color. Then position the brush vertically. And with up and down strokes we'll start suggesting these distant pine trees. We don't need to worry about making them perfect. Just keep your strokes soft and irregular. For this one we'll switch to our small round brush. Then starting at the top we'll use very gentle flicks of the brush to suggest the limbs and leaves. Then as you move down the branches should become wider and fuller. You know to get that natural pine tree shape. And try to vary the direction a bit. Some flicks curving slightly upward. Some a bit more straight. To keep it natural. So we're not gonna completely cover what's behind. Let some of those lighter trees peek through. That overlap is what gives the painting that realistic depth. Like there's a whole forest stretching back into the mist. for the foreground. Let's start with this first green mix. A little darker green. Let's go ahead and cover this area entirely. Laying it down nice and even. This broad flat brush is really helpful for this kind of coverage. You can see how quickly it fills up the area. Giving this nice even layer without leaving too many visible streaks. Alright so after this layer dries completely. We can now go ahead and start painting the trail or the path right on top of it. I'm just using light pressure here. Keeping the strokes soft and smooth as I connect each section. Think of it like sketching with paint. You're just laying down the foundation before you start adding texture and detail later on. Alright so not looking good so far. So let's clean the brush. And let's go back to our small round brush. We'll start adding highlights to our grass. We'll begin right here around this area. I'm just lightly dragging the brush following the angle of the sloping hill. Keep your strokes gentle and quick. Just enough to suggest the texture of the grass catching the light. And you don't have to cover everything. A few scattered touches are enough to bring it to life. Alright so now let's grab our angle brush. And we will begin by blocking in the whole shape of the cabin. We'll start with this nice dark brown. It's deep but it still has that subtle warmth to it. You can tilt your angle brush depending on which corner or side of the house you're painting. You can use the flat side for those broader fills. And then slightly tilt it on its edge to get those sharper lines. Especially around the roof edges or the corners of the cabin. Let's switch over to our small round brush. Let's load it up with this dark mix on our palette. And we'll start from the farther section first. Where everything appears smaller because of the distance. Just use gentle downward strokes. Nothing too heavy. And keep your hand loose. The closer you get to the foreground, the more confident your brush strokes can be. And again don't worry about making every post perfectly straight or evenly spaced. A few leaning slightly. Some a bit thicker. It all adds character. Maybe one looks like it's sinking a bit to the soft ground. Or another slightly tilted from age. You know those little imperfections give the fence personality. And help the painting tell its quiet story. This is not the shape of the window yet. We're just building up the glow underneath. Then with some light orange. Let's now paint the window glow. We're just gonna go with two simple rectangular shapes. Alright so we're almost done. Let's start adding a few more details here. Small rocks scattered all over the path. Gently tapping here and there. Keep it random. Don't make them perfectly round or evenly spaced. Nature loves imperfection. And that's what gives it character. Some rocks can be slightly oval. Others just little broken shapes. Let's start adding highlights on these rocks. Let's begin placing these highlights right on top of each rock we just laid down. But remember we don't need to highlight every single one. You can even add a few new rocks just using this highlight color. And don't overdo it. We're not trying to make them sparkle. Just a gentle shimmer that feels subtle and believable. And I think for our final touch. Let's refine and add a bit more of these warm highlights on the grass near the cabin. Not too bright. Just enough to make the light spilling out from the window feel a little warmer in the surroundings. It gives the whole scene that magical feeling. Like something peaceful and comforting is happening in this quiet night.