I turn on relaxing nature music that helps me to get into calm meditative state, then I lightly sketch mountains and hills, paying attention to the formations of cloud and mist. It’s important to not draw detailed trees or bushes at this point, but just elusively hint on their locations.

Next, I thoroughly wet the paper with clear water and my big quill brush. I’m being very gentle here not to rub the paper too much. While wetting the paper, I think about my next steps, mentally going through all the layers. Then I start to paint from the back to front - light gray blue mix in the sky, a darker mix in the distant hills. My strokes follow the direction of the subject that I paint, horizontal in the sky, angled on the hill, then vertical while adding the trees.

To enhance a sense of depth and distance, I’m switching between quill and flat brush, adding darker trees up on the hills and the closer I get to the front of my composition. I make sure that the paper is still wet so that the transitions are nice and soft. To add variety, I use different proportions of blue and green and for deeper colours I add Payne’s Gray or Perylene Green to the mix.

I paint the base of the front hill with a more pigmentated mixture of blue gray with Perylene Green and then add more water with the same quill brush to wet the rest of the paper. Again, I switch to a flat brush to strengthen the deep colours and shape the trees. I create an illusion of a cloud leaving some areas untouched and lifting off water of that specific area. This prevents dark trees that I paint on top from being dissolved and ruining the misty feel.

While paper is still wet, I finish the rest of the hill and retouch other areas to deepen some colours or add more trees.

While paper is still wet, I finish the rest of the hill and retouch other areas to deepen some colours or add more trees.

Now as my paper dried up on the top, I come back with a smaller round brush to add distinctive treetops while blending the bottom parts. Make sure that your paint here is a little bit darker than the painted background. Holding my brush almost 90 degrees to the paper I start painting with a light gray blue mix, then wash my brush and rewet it in clean water cup to blend. 

Then I repeat the same steps towards the front, getting my colour mixes darker and deeper, and switching to larger round or quill brush if needed. This is a slow process that requires a lot of attention and patience, and the calming nature music helps here tremendously.

If you use this technique to paint trees while the surface is still somewhat moist, the trees will blend with the background and enhance the misty atmosphere. If you paint the trees on a dry surface, the lines will be sharp and definite. I try to combine both in my misty paintings for the best results.

In the foreground of my composition, I use darkest and most concentrated mixes of all for four colours with more Payne’s Gray or Perylene Green. The trees here are sharp and detailed with visible branches. I ether pre-wet the area where the bottoms of my trees will be with one brush and then paint the treetops with another one, or paint the tops first, and then add water for blending. In both cases you will get a smooth transition that is perfect for this atmosphere. 

At the end, I paint an eagle flying over my misty mountains with Payne’s Gray. Adding a touch of wildlife always makes the artwork more alive and inviting.

The painting is now finished. I hope you enjoyed the process and proud of your artwork!