Last Updated on June 18, 2026 by Dee
The easiest watercolor landscapes for beginners are the ones with the fewest moving parts — a simple horizon, a soft sky and a couple of shapes for hills or trees. Scenery is forgiving by nature: nobody can tell if a distant hill is the “wrong” shape, so you get to relax and play with colour instead of chasing accuracy.
These ten free landscape outline templates give you that gentle starting point. Each is a clean printable line drawing, so the composition is already sorted and you can pour your energy into washes, blending and atmosphere. Below you’ll find all ten simple scenes plus my go-to beginner tips for skies, depth and soft backgrounds.
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I’ve put together a free 10 Easy Watercolor Landscape Outlines pack for you — just pop your email into the box below and it’s yours.
Table of Contents
1) Simple Rolling Hills
Gentle rolling hills are the friendliest landscape there is. This outline gives you two or three overlapping hill shapes and a clean horizon, so you can practise laying flat, even washes.
Paint the farthest hill in the palest green, then make each layer a touch darker as it comes forward. That single trick — lighter in the distance, darker up close — instantly creates depth.
2) Misty Mountain Range
Misty mountains look impressive but are wonderfully simple to paint. The template gives you layered peaks fading into the distance.
Work wet-on-wet so the lower edges of each mountain blur softly into mist. Use cool blue-greys and let the colour get paler with every layer back. Less detail reads as more atmosphere here.
3) Calm Lake Reflection
A still lake doubles your scenery for free — whatever is above the waterline gets mirrored below. This outline marks the shoreline and the reflection zone for you.
Paint the top half, then while it’s still damp, drag your colours downward with light vertical strokes for the reflection. A few horizontal breaks of white suggest ripples.
4) Forest Path
A path winding into the trees invites the viewer to step right in. This template gives you the trail and the trunks framing it, so you can practise leading the eye into the distance.
Keep the path pale and let it narrow as it disappears among the trees, then layer your greens darker on the sides. A dappled mix of light and shadow on the ground makes the whole scene feel alive and walkable.
5) Coastal Beach
A coastal beach is mostly clean horizontal bands — sky, sea and sand — which makes it one of the simplest landscapes to paint. The outline marks the waterline and the wet-sand edge for you.
Keep the sea a slightly deeper blue than the sky and leave a strip of white paper where the waves meet the sand. That untouched white does all the work of suggesting foam.
6) Sunset Field
An open field glowing under a sunset sky is one of the most rewarding easy scenes. The template keeps the land low and simple so the soft sunset gradient above can take centre stage.
Wet the sky area first, then drop in peach, pink and lilac and let them blend on their own. This same loose sky works beautifully behind a cottage too — see my watercolor cottage outlines.
7) Countryside with Trees
Gentle countryside dotted with trees is the cosy, rolling scene we all picture when we think of the great outdoors. The outline gives you the soft fields and a scatter of trees to anchor them.
Layer your greens from pale in the distance to richer up close, and dab the foliage loosely with a round brush so the trees feel natural. If you love woodland scenes, pair this with my watercolor woodland animals templates for a full forest story.
8) River Scene
A winding river is a calm, classic scene, and the water doubles your colour for free as it reflects the sky and banks. This outline marks the river’s curve and the banks on either side.
Paint the river with light vertical strokes pulled down from the banks, leaving a few horizontal gaps of white for sparkle. Keep the banks soft and green, darker close up, and let the river narrow as it bends into the distance.
9) Meadow
A wildflower meadow is loose, happy and almost impossible to get wrong — exactly the kind of scene watercolor loves. The outline keeps the horizon simple so the field of flowers can be the star.
Lay a soft green wash for the grass first, then dab little dots of yellow, white, pink and lavender once it’s dry for the flowers. Keep them denser in the foreground and fainter toward the horizon so the meadow seems to stretch away.
10) Horizon with Clouds
A wide-open horizon with big, drifting clouds is the perfect scene to finish on — almost all sky, with just a sliver of land below. The template gives you the horizon line and the cloud shapes to fill.
Wet the sky first, then drop in blue around the clouds and lift out the soft white shapes with a clean, damp brush or a tissue. Keep the land a simple low band so all the drama stays up in those big skies.
Easy Tips for Simple Watercolor Scenery
Beginner landscapes come together when you work in the right order and let the water do some of the blending for you. A few simple habits will make any scene look calmer and more professional.
Start with the Sky and the Horizon Line
Always decide where your horizon sits before you touch the brush, then paint the sky first. The sky sets the mood and lighting for everything below it. A high horizon gives you more land to play with; a low one makes a big, dramatic sky.
Use Wet-on-Wet for Soft Backgrounds
For dreamy skies and misty distances, wet the paper with clean water first, then drop colour in and let it spread. The colours blend themselves, giving you soft gradients without visible brush marks.
A pad that handles a lot of water without buckling makes this far easier — Canson XL is a budget-friendly option, while an Arches cold press block stays perfectly flat for those bigger washes.
Build Depth with Light-to-Dark Layers
Distance reads as paler, cooler and less detailed; foreground reads as darker, warmer and crisper. Paint your most distant elements first in light washes, let them dry, then build forward with stronger colour. This single principle makes flat scenery suddenly feel three-dimensional.
How to Use the Free Landscape Outline Templates
These printable outlines hand you a ready-made composition so you never have to stare at a blank page wondering where the horizon goes. Here’s how to get started.
Printing and Transferring
Print the templates at A4 or US Letter. For best results, transfer the outline onto watercolor paper rather than painting on copy paper — copy paper warps and pills the moment it gets wet.
Hold both sheets against a window and trace, or use an LED light pad for a clearer line. Keep your pencil marks light, especially under pale skies where dark lines would show.
Making Each Scene Your Own
Change the season, the time of day or the weather and a single outline gives you a dozen paintings. Try the same rolling hills at sunrise, at dusk and under snow. Once the layering feels natural, sketch your own simple horizons freehand — you’ll be amazed how quickly it clicks.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the easiest watercolor landscape for beginners?
Simple rolling hills or a basic beach horizon are the easiest landscapes to start with, because they use clean horizontal bands and only a few shapes. Paint the sky first, then layer the land from light in the distance to darker in the foreground.
Using a printable outline removes the drawing step, so beginners can focus purely on colour and blending.
How do you paint simple scenery in watercolor step by step?
Decide where the horizon sits, then paint the sky first while the paper is damp so it blends softly. Once that’s dry, add the most distant elements in pale washes, let them dry, and build forward with progressively darker, warmer colour. Finish with a few small foreground details last.
What colours do I need for an easy watercolor landscape?
A small set covers most scenery: a blue, a green, a yellow, a red or warm brown, and a touch of purple for shadows. From those you can mix skies, hills, water and trees. You don’t need a huge palette — beginners often do their best work with just six well-chosen colours.
Do I need special paper for beginner watercolor landscapes?
Yes — watercolor paper is worth it. Regular paper buckles and tears once it’s wet, which ruins those soft sky washes. A student pad like Strathmore 400 or Canson XL is affordable and handles water beautifully.
Aim for at least 140lb (300gsm) weight so the paper stays flat.
Where can I find free printable landscape watercolor templates?
You can grab a free pack of easy landscape outline templates right here in this post — just pop your email into the form near the top of the page and it lands in your inbox. The free set includes ten simple scenes, from rolling hills and misty mountains to a calm lake and a pastel sunset, all sized to print at home on A4.
When you’re ready to paint beyond these ten, my full watercolor template collection has plenty more easy scenes in the same outline style, with standalone sets starting at £8. The premium sets even include colour recipe cards that tell you exactly which shades to mix for each scene — lovely if you’d like a little extra guidance.
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