Living here in Vancouver, I'm surrounded by rain for what feels like eight months of the year. While some artists might see those grey, drizzly days as uninspiring, I've fallen completely in love with painting the moods that rainy weather brings. There's something magical about capturing that soft, diffused light and the way water transforms our familiar landscapes into something dreamlike and mysterious.
After years of painting Vancouver's rainy scenes, I've developed techniques that help me translate those fleeting atmospheric moments onto paper. Today, I want to share my approach to watercolour rain painting – from the technical methods I use to the emotional connection that drives my work.
Before I even touch brush to paper, I spend time really observing how rain changes everything around me. The colours shift dramatically – greens become more saturated, greys take on subtle purple and blue undertones, and reflections create these gorgeous mirror worlds on wet pavement.
I've learned that painting rain isn't just about depicting water falling from the sky. It's about capturing that hushed quality of sound, the way people move differently, the cozy feeling of being inside looking out, or conversely, the invigorating sensation of being caught in a downpour. These emotional elements are what I try to weave into every rainy day painting.
My palette for rainy scenes typically includes Payne's Grey, Cerulean Blue, Raw Umber, and various greens like Sap Green and Hooker's Green. But the magic happens in the mixing – those subtle variations that make cloudy skies feel alive rather than flat.
The wet-on-wet technique is absolutely essential for capturing that soft, misty quality of Vancouver rain. I start by wetting my paper with clean water, then drop in colours while the surface is still damp. This creates those beautiful, organic bleeds that perfectly mimic how rain softens hard edges in the real world.
For skies heavy with rain clouds, I'll wet the entire sky area and then work quickly, dropping in greys and blues, letting them merge naturally. Sometimes I'll tilt my paper slightly to encourage the paint to flow in directions that suggest wind or the weight of storm clouds.
One technique I particularly love is creating rain streaks using a damp, clean brush. While the paint is still wet, I'll drag a barely damp brush vertically down through the wash. This lifts just enough pigment to suggest falling rain without making it too literal or heavy-handed.
Rainy scenes have this wonderful quality where things fade into the distance much more dramatically than on clear days. I build this atmospheric perspective through careful layering, letting each wash dry completely before adding the next.
I start with my lightest, most distant elements – perhaps the silhouette of mountains barely visible through rain clouds. These get painted in very pale, cool greys. Then I gradually work forward, making each successive layer slightly darker and warmer.
For rain-soaked streets, I love playing with reflections. I'll paint the scene normally first, then add wet reflections by painting the mirror image below with slightly softer, more diffused colours. While that's still damp, I might drag a horizontal brush stroke across to break up the reflection and suggest movement in the water.
One of the most challenging aspects of painting rainy scenes is finding and emphasizing the light sources. Even on the greyest Vancouver days, there's always light somewhere – maybe filtering through clouds, reflecting off wet surfaces, or glowing from windows and street lamps.
I preserve these light areas by masking them from the beginning or by carefully painting around them. Street lamps create these gorgeous halos of light in rain, which I achieve by working wet-on-wet around the light source, letting the colours bloom naturally into softer edges.
Rain-wet surfaces become mirrors for any available light. I'll often add these reflections last, using clean water and a light touch to suggest how light bounces off puddles and wet pavement.
Creating and sharing my rainy day watercolours requires more than just paint and paper. When I photograph my work and update my website with new pieces, I rely on solid technical infrastructure. I use Hostinger VPS for all my projects (affiliate link) – their reliable hosting keeps my art website running smoothly even during Vancouver's stormiest weather when I'm uploading new rain-inspired pieces.
Living here has taught me that rain isn't just weather – it's part of our cultural identity. I find endless inspiration in how Vancouverites adapt to and embrace rainy days. The way morning commuters huddle under bus stops creates these intimate human moments perfect for watercolour vignettes.
Coffee shops become these warm, glowing havens, and I love painting that contrast between the cozy interior light and the grey world outside. Parks take on a completely different character when they're empty except for the occasional dog walker bundled in rain gear.
I keep a small sketchbook with me always, protected in a plastic sleeve, ready to capture these fleeting rainy day moments. Sometimes a quick pencil sketch and written colour notes are all I need to recreate a scene later in my studio.
There's something deeply meditative about painting rain in watercolour. The medium itself mirrors the fluidity and unpredictability of water. I've learned to embrace happy accidents – those moments when the paint does something unexpected that perfectly captures the essence of rain better than I could have planned.
Each rainy day painting becomes a meditation on impermanence and beauty. Rain transforms everything temporarily, and watercolour captures that temporary magic in permanent form.
Ready to bring some of Vancouver's rainy day magic into your space? I invite you to view my collection of original rainy day watercolours at marniejeanartist.ca. Each piece carries the authentic atmosphere of our beautiful, rain-kissed city, waiting to add that peaceful, contemplative mood to your home.