How To Paint Simple Watercolor Reflections

Reflections in watercolor can be painted in may ways. There is no ‘right’ way, if you ask me - just your own stylistic preference.

The way I see it, there are two main styles when approaching watercolor reflections:

Abstract
Realistic

Abstract reflections are painted in a way that conveys there is a body of water but doesn’t get into the nitty-gritty of painting all the small ripples or painting a “mirror-like” reflection.

Realistic reflections are painted in a way that looks more “photographic”. So that means while painting, you would likely spend more time detailing the images that are showing up in the body of water.

As you can see from the example in this post, I prefer painting abstract over realistic. I love allowing the beauty of watercolors to really show through in this area of the painting by using wet-on-wet techniques.

I love trying to capture the “suggestion” of a reflection - it can sometimes difficult to do, but I find it a fun challenge. Reflections are something I find myself coming back to again and again to practice and get better at. I’ll probably always be practicing them as each time I encounter a chance to paint one, I find that it is challenging in its own way!

In case you want to give abstract reflections a try, I want to share this video with you. It’s a time-lapse version of a lesson that I shared inside of my member’s community, Paint With Me.

In this video, I demonstrate a simple approach to painting abstract reflections. If you’re looking to experiment and try this technique out, follow along and give it a try!

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