How to Paint MOUNTAIN LAKE Landscape | Acrylic Painting

Welcome back YouTube. Today we'll be painting this beautiful mountain lake with these majestic peaks in the background. We'll be working with some nice atmospheric perspective, reflections in the water, and of course some beautiful highlights to bring everything to life. And if you want to follow the full 1 hour and 14 minutes painting tutorial, including the downloadable reference photo, it's over on my Patreon Membership. Alright, enjoy the video and I'll see you in the next one. So this is the reference we will be using today. It's printed on a paper and it's the same size as our 8 by 10 inches stretch canvas. So we're going to use this to help us measure the positioning and proportions of all the elements in the painting. First let's grab our number 6 flat brush and we will start by applying our base layer. Start with some white, some red, touch of blue, not too much, then yellow to tone it down. Let's add a bit more white, a bit more yellow as well. So we want to capture that kind of light muted purple color on the sky. So we're applying the blue and red, we'll achieve the purple color. Then by applying some touch of yellow, we can tone the color down or make it desaturated. So we're going to measure this distant mountain. So first I'm going to measure the bottom part. I'm going to check the distance between the bottom part of the reference and the lower part of this distant mountain. So around there, then the top part. I'm just using my finger and the brush handle to measure the distance from the bottom of the reference photo. Then transfer it, transfer the same measurement to the canvas. Then let's start blacking in this distant mountain using this light muted purple. Let's also measure this bigger mountain on the right side. So let's start with the bottom part of that mountain, so right there. I'm just going to mark it a little bit. So for this mountain we want a more darker color. Let's add a touch of water. If you notice the paint is a little bit drag or hard to mix on the palette. Then the upper part of the mountain, right there. And also how far it is from the right side of the reference, so right there. And again let's continue blacking in the shape of this mountain. And since this mountain is much closer to us, we want to make it a little darker compared to the distant mountain. But for this base layer, I still want to keep that purplish color in there. All right, so let's clean the brush. So now for that land or grass to the bottom part of the distant mountain, let's make some yellow, red, white, touch of green, touch of blue, a little bit more white. Then we're just gonna place it right here, following the slope of the mountain. And for the lake, let's throw in some blue, yellow, and red directly on the canvas. Just using horizontal strokes here. A bit more blue. So you want the color here to be till blue. So to achieve that, we need blue and touch of yellow. And that yellow will turn this into kind of blue-green color. And the red to make it a little muted. And right here, let's make it a little more darker, more blue, red, and touch of yellow. Since this where the bigger and darker mountain is reflecting on the water. We also want that reflection to appear darker here as well. All right, so now we have a rough guide for our composition. So what we'll do next is to make everything more solid and more opaque. Since our first layer is still kind of transparent and rough, we're just gonna build up the colors and cover everything again more evenly. So again, some blue, red, touch of white, touch of yellow, but make sure to have more blue on this mix. All right, that's too dark. Let's make it a little lighter. And some white and a bit more muted with some red. There. Also, I'm gonna check this part on how high it is. Right there. You don't need to make it exactly the same. Just try to capture that rugged look of the mountain. Then right here, I want this part to kind of blend into the clouds. Since some of the clouds are sitting very low, almost level with the mountain. Let's clean the brush. So now with some white, so right there. So we touch up red and touch up yellow. So you want to lightly place this very low clouds as well. So there. Let's add more blue, more red. So let's just throw in the colors directly on the canvas here. Let's add more blue, more green, so let's make it more darker. Then to the edge here, I want it lighter, more muted. I'm gonna add a bit more white and yellow here. I want this side to feel a little hazy. So we don't want the edge to be too sharp or too dark. Then this side, I think let's make it more darker with some green as well. Then let's clean the brush. Then let's mix a little more darker for the shadow area of the grass. So red, green, some blue, some yellow. Let's add a bit more green, a bit more red. So there. I'm just gonna brush in some shadow marks here and there. Just to create more depth within the grass areas. Moving on to the lake, I'm just gonna throw in the colors here directly. So blue, some red, touch up yellow. Add touch up water, not too much. So I think this is too dark. Let's add some white as well. A bit more yellow, more blue. Let's throw in more blue. So again, this area here needs to be darker as well to reflect the darker color of the mountain. We want to carry the darker color down into the water to the lake. So let's make this more more teal color, dark teal color. So again, we're adding here some yellow to achieve that blue-green shade. But of course, we have to throw in more blue here to prevent it from turning into just green shade. Let's wipe some paint off the bristles. Then on this side, more lighter. We're gonna add more white and blue here. Then let these two values blend, light to dark to create this beautiful transition. So going back here, I'm gonna add a little more blue while everything's still wet. I really want to capture that nice teal-blue shade in this area. So I'm just mixing it in softly with the colors that are already there. Just blend it gently while the paint is still wet. So I actually forgot to hit the record button on this part. So I apologize for that. What I did here is just make the clouds a little darker. I added some darker tones. Some red, blue, touch of yellow. Just the same mixtures, but with less white. I'm just brushing that darker color into the areas where I want the clouds to be a little darker. So down here near the horizon, we want it more lighter. So more white in this area. You know, just keep mixing and adjusting as we go. I think it makes the process feel a little more natural as well. So now switching to our angle brush. We will also add some shadows right here on the distant mountain. So we will make some areas there more deeper. Let's have some blue, red, touch of white, touch of yellow. Tone this down. So right there. So I'm using the angle brush here because I want a little more control. Especially when following those rugged shapes and edges of the mountain. So for the shadows here, I'm not going to make everything dark all at once. We will just slowly place some darker areas here and there. Then we can adjust them as we go. For now, we're still, we're mainly focusing on building the shadow and giving this mountain more shape, more depth. Then let's also have some brownish color. So I'm gonna mix in some red, yellow, touch of white. So a bit more red on this one. And let's just lightly place them where we can see those rocky shapes in the reference. We don't need too much detail here since this mountain is still far away. Just enough to break up some of those green areas. And give the mountain a little more variation. So now switching back to our flat brush, let's now move on to this bigger mountain. We're gonna add shadow there as well. So we need a more deeper muted purple here. Blue, red, green. Alright, there you go. So I'm just looking back and forth the reference photo. So I'm just using broader strokes and following those bigger rugged patterns. Don't worry about making every little shape perfect. Just look for those bigger shadow areas first and try to capture that overall rugged feeling. And then with some black, mix some red. So let's deepen some of the shadow areas even more. So just in selective spots. We don't want to put black everywhere because we can easily lose those nice purple tones underneath. Now for the lake, let's make some kind of dark blue-green. And we're going to start adding some shadows here as well. Just keep your brush strokes nice and horizontal. Since this is water, we want these strokes to follow the direction of the lake. Just move from side to side. Let's add a bit more red to the mix. Now let's add some blue and white to the mix. So with this, let's just soften some of these strokes. So I'm lightly brushing it over some of the darker areas just to blend them a little and make the water feel softer. Now switching back to our angle brush, let's make some red, white, yellow, a bit more red, touch up green. And we want to have a kind of like muted pitch color or maybe light brown. So this is for these small rocks here in the foreground. So for now, let's just black in the whole mid-tone as one big shape. We also have another one here. All right, so now with some red, some green, yellow, some blue, let's have a dark green color. Now let's start adding some shadows to the grass here in the foreground. I'm just flicking the brush upward to kind of create these little blades of grass. Just nice and loose. We don't need to paint every single blade individually. So now for the shadow and the rocks in the foreground, let's add some yellow and red to this mix just to make it more warmer but still dark. Just place some of these darker shapes. Just a very basic, simple shapes. Let's also keep the shapes a little regular. Some are smaller, some are bigger. Just these small dabs can already suggest that rocky texture. Now moving on to the most exciting part, the highlights. These are really going to start bringing everything to life. Let's grab our palette knife. Let's mix white, touch up yellow. We will start with the highlights on the clouds. We're going to mix a couple of light shades. Another one, this time with some red and touch up blue. There you go. Another one, some red, green, a bit of blue. For this one, just a little bit darker. There you go. Then right here for this bigger mountain, let's have some kind of orange tone. Red, yellow and touch up white. Not too much white for this one. A bit more red, touch up green just to mute this down. A bit more green right here. Next, some white, touch up green and red to the leftover paint. There you go. Next, some red, touch up green, a bit more white. Let's also prepare the subtle highlights on the rocks, on this bigger mountain. Let's add a bit more. There as you can see, it's slowly becoming more desaturated, more muted. Let's add a bit more red as well. A bit more blue. This one I think is too bright. I think let's make it more deeper, more vibrant. Let's add more red and yellow with some of those leftover paint underneath. Next, let's move on to the greens. Let's mix some yellow, blue. Just let that leftover paint underneath mix in. That's fine. There you go. Next, let's have a little more lighter. White and yellow, touch up red. There you go. Another one. I think let's also have a warmer tone. We're going to add a bit more red this time. A bit more white. All right. Last, I think let's also have a muted purple. Blue and red, some white and the leftover paint underneath. Right there. Let's grab our angle brush and let's start with the clouds. Start applying highlights over there. I'm just going to use these light colors. Let's start over here, near the horizon. In some areas, we can actually wipe a little bit of the paint off the brush. We can apply the color more lightly and kind of mist it into the clouds. That will help us create that soft glow. Then in some areas, like here, we can really want the light to stand out. We can use a little thicker paint and apply it more heavily. All right. Now, moving on down here to these slow clouds that are covering some areas of the mountain. Just gently brushing it into the mountain. Right here, I just want to create a little break into the clouds. Now, let's switch to our small round brush. We can finally go ahead and start adding some snow to the mountain. Let's begin up here on the peak of this mountain. We're not going to cover the whole top of the mountain with snow. We will just follow some of those natural shapes we can see in the reference. A little more up here. All right. Now, with this light muted brown, let's go ahead and brush in some highlights on the rocky parts of this mountain. As you can see, once you place these lighter shapes against the darker shadows, it already starts to create more depth and bring out some of the details. We don't always need to add a lot of tiny details to make something look more detailed. Sometimes just having the right contrast between the light and dark areas can already do a lot. I think I want to make these greens a little lighter with some white for the highlights on the distant grassy areas. Just a few lighter strokes here and there can already suggest that the light is hitting those grassy areas. Now, let's add more greens to this mountain. Since this whole mountain is sitting more in the shadow area and it's not really being hit by direct sunlight, we're not going to use super bright highlights here. We just want the green to be subtle enough to create a little more texture. I'm just following the slope of the mountain. I'm letting the brush strokes follow the natural direction of the mountain so everything flows along with its shape. All right. Now, with the lighter yellow green, let's also apply a few highlights along some of these edges. Not too much. Again, this mountain is still sitting in the shadow area. It's not being hit by direct sunlight. We don't want these greens to be too bright. Let's also apply some highlights here. Since the light is coming from the right side, we want to make sure that most of our highlights are sitting on the right side of these rocks. The goal is really just to create the illusion that there are more rocks in this area without having to paint every single one individually. Also right here, just a very light touch of these highlights. All right. Lastly, for the lake, let's make some white, touch up blue, touch up yellow. Let's have a very light teal blue. There you go. Another one. Let's also have some of this lighter green, white there. Lastly, a more vibrant teal blue. Let's have some blue, touch up yellow and white. More blue for this one. Some green as well. More blue. Touch up red. All right. Using our angle brush, start with this light teal. I'm just going to add some highlights over here, brushing in horizontally. Then also we have this reflection of the snow from the distant mountain. For this, we want the reflection to come straight down vertically from the mountain. But of course, we're still keeping these strokes horizontal because it's water. But the overall shape of the reflection should travel straight down. Then with some thicker white, just place it over here. This will help create more contrast and make the glowing light stand out even more. Now with this vibrant teal, I'm going to brush some of it into the shadow area of the reflection. So I don't want the shadow area to look completely dull or just dark. So even though this part is in shadow, you can still add some color to make it feel more alive. And we're done. This is the final painting. I hope you had fun painting this majestic mountain lake as much as I did. I also hope you were able to pick up some new techniques and little tips along the way.