- Fallen Log Bridge Over a Stream
- Woodland Clearing With a Tent
- Toadstool
- Fern
- Fir Branch With a Cone
- Log With Moss
- Forest Path Between Trees
- Woodland Cabin
- Tree Stump With a Little Door
- Bunch of Wild Berries
- Deer in the Trees
- Waterfall in the Woods
- Forest of Three Pines
- Frequently Asked Questions
This watercolor forest collection gives you thirteen woodland subjects already drawn and ready to paint, so you can skip the part where you stare at a blank page wondering how to draw a tree stump or a deer. Each one shows a finished painted version next to a clean black and white outline built from a few big, simple shapes with nothing fiddly to trip you up.
Print the outline at the size you want, then transfer it to your watercolor paper by taping both sheets to a sunny window or a light pad and tracing the lines through, or slip a sheet of graphite transfer paper between them and go over the lines with a pencil. Once the shapes are on your paper, prop the painted example beside you and follow the colour notes for each one.
Using these images: free for personal projects such as printing, coloring, cards, journals and gifts. Handmade items that include them may be sold up to 30 pieces per design. More than that is commercial use and is not permitted, and neither is selling or sharing the images themselves or passing them off as your own. Please ask before any other use.
Fallen Log Bridge Over a Stream
Paint the water first with a pale blue-grey wash, leaving a few white gaps for sparkle, then let it dry while you work the log in warm browns, darker along its underside where the shadow falls. Add the grassy banks in two greens, a lighter one first and a deeper one dropped in wet so they blend softly at the edges. The one touch that finishes it: a thin dry-brush line of dark brown along the top of the log to suggest bark ridges.
Palette: Burnt Umber,Payne’s Grey,Sap Green,Cerulean Blue
Woodland Clearing With a Tent
Start with the sky in a thin wash of pale blue around the tops of the trees, then paint the tent a warm orange-red, keeping one side slightly lighter where the light hits it. Fill the trunks with a flat grey-brown and the ground with a loose green wash, letting a touch of yellow bleed in near the tent for warmth. Finish with a tiny dark triangle for the tent’s open doorway so the shape reads clearly from across the room.
Palette: Cadmium Orange,Sap Green,Yellow Ochre,Payne’s Grey
Toadstool
Wash the cap in red first, leaving small round gaps for the white spots, and tilt the brush so the colour pools slightly darker near the cap’s edge. Once dry, paint the stem a soft off-white with a thin grey shadow line down one side to give it roundness. This is a quick, forgiving subject, and the spots are what make it: keep them a little uneven so the toadstool looks hand-painted rather than printed.
Palette: Cadmium Red,Titanium White,Payne’s Grey
Fern
Paint the central stem first in a thin line of green, then work outward to each leaflet pair with a loaded brush, letting the tip of each leaflet taper to a point. Use a slightly darker green near the base of the frond and a fresher, lighter green toward the curling tip so the whole shape feels like it is unfurling. Because the leaflets are small and repeat down the stem, transfer the outline carefully so none of them merge together when you trace.
Palette: Sap Green,Hooker’s Green,Lemon Yellow
Fir Branch With a Cone
Block in the needle clusters with a deep green wash, dabbing the brush rather than stroking so the clusters keep their soft, bristly shape. Leave the woody branch underneath a bare warm brown, and paint the cone in layered browns, darker toward its base and lighter at the scales near the tip. A few short dry-brush strokes flicked outward from the needle clusters once the green is dry will give the whole branch a slightly textured, lifelike edge.
Palette: Hooker’s Green,Burnt Sienna,Raw Umber
Log With Moss
Wash the log’s bark in warm brown first, keeping the underside a touch darker for weight, then once it is dry, dab patches of bright green moss unevenly along the top edge with a drier brush so the texture stays soft and irregular. Let a little of the green bleed down into the bark at a few spots so the moss looks like it is growing rather than sitting on top. Varying the moss patches in size is the detail that keeps this log from looking stiff.
Palette: Burnt Umber,Sap Green,Olive Green
Forest Path Between Trees
Paint the path in a warm tan wash, narrowing it slightly as it recedes, then fill the trunks on either side with a flat grey-brown, keeping each one a simple vertical shape. Drop loose green washes above the trunks for the canopy, letting the colour pool unevenly so it suggests leaves without drawing any. If you enjoy this kind of layered woodland scene, the easy watercolor landscapes collection has more beginner-friendly scenes built the same simple way.
Palette: Yellow Ochre,Sap Green,Payne’s Grey
Woodland Cabin
Paint the walls in a warm honey-brown first, then the roof in a deeper brown-grey once the walls are dry so the two shapes stay crisp against each other. Add the window as a small flat square of soft blue-grey, and a short strip of green at the base for grass. Keep the whole cabin simple and geometric: it is the clean triangle-on-square shape, not detail, that makes it read instantly as a cabin.
Palette: Yellow Ochre,Burnt Sienna,Payne’s Grey,Sap Green
Tree Stump With a Little Door
Paint the stump’s body in warm brown, then once dry, add the top in rings of slightly different browns to suggest the cut wood grain. Colour the door a cheerful contrasting shade, red or blue works well, with a small round window beside it in soft yellow. This is a playful subject with a little cottagecore charm, so if you like this kind of whimsical woodland detail, the watercolor pencil mushroom and forest drawings collection leans into the same mood.
Palette: Burnt Sienna,Cadmium Red,Yellow Ochre
Try adding a tiny brown dot for a doorknob once everything else is dry. It is a small thing but it makes the door look like it actually opens.
Bunch of Wild Berries
Paint each berry as a round dot of deep red, letting a touch of purple bleed into one side while the wash is still wet so each berry gets a little natural shading. Add the leaves in a fresh green once the berries are dry, and the thin stem last in a light brown line connecting everything together. Because the berries sit close together, trace the outline with care so each circle stays separate and none of them fuse into one blob.
Palette: Alizarin Crimson,Dioxazine Purple,Sap Green
Deer in the Trees
Wash the deer’s body in a warm tan, leaving the belly and inner legs a paler cream, then add a touch of deeper brown along the back and legs while the first wash is still a little damp so the colours blend softly. Paint the antlers and hooves in a thin grey-brown line once everything else is dry. If you want more animal subjects built the same simple way, the easy watercolor animals collection is a good next stop.
Palette: Raw Sienna,Burnt Umber,Payne’s Grey
Waterfall in the Woods
Leave the centre of the waterfall mostly white paper, and paint only thin streaks of pale blue down either side of that white space to suggest falling water. Paint the rocks in grey-brown at the base, then the pool below in a slightly deeper blue with a few white ripple gaps left unpainted. Add soft green trees on both banks last, keeping them loose so they frame the water rather than compete with it.
You Will Need
- masking fluid for the white water streaks
Palette: Cerulean Blue,Payne’s Grey,Sap Green
A little masking fluid painted over the brightest water streaks before you wash in the blue keeps those highlights perfectly white and saves you from painting carefully around them by hand.
Forest of Three Pines
Paint each pine as a tall, narrow triangle in a slightly different green so the three trees read as individuals rather than a repeated shape, working from the back tree forward. Keep the trunks thin and straight in a warm brown, added last so they sit cleanly on top of the dry green. A faint dry-brush texture flicked along the edges of each triangle gives the pines a soft, needle-like outline without any extra drawing.
Palette: Hooker’s Green,Sap Green,Olive Green,Burnt Umber
What to Do Next
Pick one subject, trace it onto your watercolor paper tonight, and keep the painted example propped up nearby while you work through the colours in order. Once you finish a few, print the rest of the set and build a small woodland collection one page at a time.
Frequently Asked Questions
What size should I print the outlines?
Print at standard letter or A4 size to match most watercolor paper pads. Scale up on a photocopier if you want a larger painting, keeping the paper heavy enough to handle washes without buckling.
What paper works best for these watercolor forest templates?
Cold press watercolor paper of at least 140lb holds washes without warping badly. A smoother hot press sheet works too if you prefer tighter detail on small subjects like the toadstool or berries.
How do I transfer the outline without a light pad?
Tape the printed outline and your watercolor paper together against a sunny window and trace the lines through with a pencil. Graphite transfer paper slipped between the two sheets works just as well on a tabletop.
Can I use colored pencils or markers instead of watercolor?
Yes, the same outlines work well with colored pencils or markers. Follow the same colour order described for each template and build up pressure gradually instead of adding water.
What if I make a mistake on the traced outline?
Light pencil lines erase easily before you paint, so trace gently at first. Once you start painting, treat the faint pencil line as a guide rather than a rule and let your brush follow its own shape.