How to Paint Fog and Mist in Watercolor Using Opaque Colors
How to Paint Atmospheric Fog in Watercolor
Best Subjects for This Technique
Fog effects work especially well for:
- cityscapes
- cathedrals
- forests
- waterfalls
- mountain scenes
- coastal landscapes
Watercolor is traditionally known as a transparent medium. Most instructors teach students to preserve the white of the paper and build color through transparent layers. Even though white watercolor paints exist, the brightest highlights are usually created by simply leaving the paper untouched.
Fog is a different animal.
When I want to create soft mist, atmospheric depth, or the feeling of moisture hanging in the air, I often reach for opaque watercolor pigments and use them in ways that would probably make some watercolor purists nervous.
For this painting of St. Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh, I began with the dark shapes first. That’s already a little backwards from traditional watercolor technique, where artists often work from light to dark. I wanted the cathedral to emerge from the fog rather than sit on top of it, so establishing the darker structure early gave me something to partially conceal later.
Once the dark passages had dried, I lightly misted the surface with clean water and waited a few moments for the moisture to settle into the paper. Then came the fun part.
Instead of brushing opaque color across the surface, I literally dripped paint onto the wet paper and tilted the board. Gravity became my painting partner.
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“Wait a minute,” students often ask. “Wouldn’t that just create mud?”
Not if you’re careful.
The secret is to avoid scrubbing or brushing the new color into the underlying wash. The goal is to allow the fresh pigment to float across the surface rather than disturb what is already there. By gently misting the paper and letting gravity do most of the work, the opaque paint can settle into delicate veils that appear to hover above the darker layers beneath.
This creates an optical effect that is difficult to achieve with traditional transparent glazing. Instead of physically mixing colors together, you’re layering them so that the viewer’s eye blends them naturally. The result is depth, atmosphere, and a sense of mystery.
I often repeat this process multiple times, building one veil of fog on top of another. Each layer softens edges, pushes forms into the distance, and creates the illusion of moisture-filled air.
Think of it as watercolor with attitude.
The cathedral remains visible, but only partially. Shapes appear and disappear. Edges dissolve. The painting begins to feel less like a detailed architectural rendering and more like a memory of standing in Edinburgh on a damp Scottish evening.
This technique works beautifully for fog, misty forests, waterfalls, distant mountains, cityscapes, and anywhere atmosphere becomes more important than detail.
(For this painting of Paris, France I did approximately 90 layers of yellow, red, and blue on top of the Eiffel Tower and birds painting- I am not kidding)
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Watch the complete demonstration below and see how gravity, opaque watercolor, and a willingness to bend a few traditional rules transformed this Edinburgh scene into a painting filled with atmosphere and mystery.
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Ryan Fox AWS, NWS, TWSA
Ryan Fox Painting
(919) 645-8345