Creative exercises
Draw a three-depth landscape in Aquarell: mountains, middle ground and silhouette
Use the tonal relationship of sky, distant mountains and foreground to practise depth. Separate layers, then check that the landscape stays readable on a small screen.
On this page
First divide the landscape into distant, middle, and foreground groups of large color shapes. This provides an adjustable foundation for depth. In Aquarell, placing each group on its own layer lets you change its contour and strength separately. There is no need to fill the image with leaves, rocks, and clouds from the start.
This tutorial creates a small mountain landscape suitable for a blog banner. Start with no more than five colors, three scenery layers, and one sky background, and observe how lightness and overlap create depth.
1. Allocate space for the sky and mountains
Create a landscape canvas of 1600 × 900 pixels, initially leaving roughly the upper half for the sky and placing the mountains below. For tall mountains, reduce the sky area; for a relaxed illustration accompanying text, leave more sky for the title. Decide the purpose before choosing the proportions.
Lightly sketch three rolling lines: the distant ridge highest, the middle ridge slightly lower, and the foreground near the bottom. Avoid making them parallel copies of the same wave. The distant ridge can be gentler, the middle ground can have one distinct peak, and the foreground can rise on one side to create overlap.
2. Paint a clean sky background first
Lay in the sky with pale blue-gray or warm beige. Use a large brush to color sections directly, aiming for even coverage first. If the brush leaves obvious seams, try longer strokes or a brush better suited to base coverage rather than layering repeatedly until the entire image becomes darker.
The sky does not need complex clouds at the beginning. A settled background makes the mountain colors easier to compare. To add clouds, create another layer and paint two or three light shapes, checking whether they compete with the subject. Keep their shapes consistent with the overall style rather than scattering many white fragments.
3. Paint distant mountains with lighter colors
Paint the most distant mountains on the distant-mountain layer. Their color can be slightly darker than the sky while remaining low in contrast compared with the foreground. Describe the ridges with broad shapes rather than deliberately adding a jagged tooth every few pixels.
For example, with a pale warm-gray sky, the distant mountains can be a cooler gray-blue and the middle ground a shade darker. This is a way to distinguish depth, not a fixed rule for every natural lighting condition. Unusual weather or backlighting may work differently. For a first exercise, choose a scheme in which near and far are easy to read.
The middle ground can cover the lower edge of the distant mountains, so there is no need to refine parts that will not be visible. Leave enough overlap, however, to avoid narrow transparent gaps between the layers.
4. Connect the middle ground through contours and local variation
Add a middle-ground layer and draw a ridgeline with a different rhythm from the distant mountains. Make one peak the focal point and let the others recede, so the picture does not resemble a row of equally tall spikes.
The middle ground can be darker and slightly more saturated than the distant mountains. Paint a complete color shape first, then add one or two shaded slopes. Follow the mountain's direction rather than applying the same triangular shadow to every peak. When zoomed out, the middle ground should remain distinct without becoming so much darker than the foreground that the depth appears reversed.
5. Keep only a few recognizable foreground details
On the topmost scenery layer, paint a nearby slope or tree silhouette. The foreground might occupy roughly the bottom quarter of the canvas or enter from the left. Start with a smaller dark area so that a large black mass does not overwhelm the mountains.
When adding two or three trees, paint their overall silhouettes before the necessary branches. The foreground can contain more detail than distant areas, but “more” does not mean every leaf must appear. On a small screen, the overall canopy shapes and spacing often matter more than tiny textures.
Final check: set the details aside for a moment
View the image at about 400 pixels wide and check whether the distant mountains, middle ground, and foreground remain separate. If the middle ground disappears, increase color separation or adjust the height of its contour. If the foreground feels too heavy, reduce its dark area before trying lower layer opacity.
Temporarily hide the finest texture layer and decide whether the composition becomes clearer. Landscape illustrations are often viewed at small sizes, so richness on an enlarged canvas is not the only measure of completion. If you plan to add a title, leave an area with relatively quiet color variation and check that the title will not cover the only main peak.
Exporting and making later revisions
For a complete banner, you can export JPEG; consider PNG when you need transparent decorative edges. Keep the scenery layers in the native file to make later background changes, shifts in emphasis, or color changes easier.
For a series of landscapes for different articles, reuse the proportion and color rules while changing the ridgelines and tree positions. Do not simply stretch the same image horizontally to fit a layout: that changes the proportions of mountains, clouds, and brushstrokes and can make the design look awkward.
Prepare a genuinely quiet area for the title
If the landscape will be an article header, place the actual title on the draft early for comparison. Even with plenty of sky space, a bright cloud or strong color difference behind the text can make it hard to read. Reduce detail behind the title rather than darkening the whole image. Finally, hide the temporary title or keep the finished layout version, making the output's purpose clear.
Questions and limitations
Why is there still no depth when the three layers have different colors?
Besides color, check differences in lightness, overlapping contours, and detail density. If all three layers are equally dark and equally busy, they can look like a flat collage despite different hues. Reduce distant detail first, then check the overlap order.
What if the mountain ridges look too hard?
First decide whether the style calls for hard edges. A flat-color landscape can retain clear contours, while a softer style may benefit from lighter strokes or lower contrast. Do not blur every edge equally, or the foreground will lose its emphasis too.
Why are the joins in the sky more visible after export?
Check whether light and dark bands already appear in the original at normal viewing size, and compare export formats and compression. Keep a PNG reference first, then determine whether the issue is paint coverage or JPEG compression making existing differences more obvious.
Can this method produce a realistic landscape?
It offers a way to observe layers and organize large color shapes. Realism also requires perspective, specific lighting, and observation of materials; a fixed layer count or these colors cannot produce it automatically.
Sources and applicable version
Information checked on October 22, 2026, for Aquarell 1.0.5 (iOS / iPadOS 15.0 or later). See the official description and Apple release lookup; the interface may change with the version.