Tip #31
Step by step
painting of the ocean
Well, best laid plans...it's a good thing I decided to work on two
paintings at once, this time, because I was scanning the steps and my
scanner crashed. Naturally I hadn't saved them yet...ouch! This isn't
the painting I'd actually planned to use for this demo, but I like it and
it is instructive, sooooo...
I love the way the waves recede and leave an almost smooth, glossy stretch that is not quite ocean, not quite
beach. It's in this zone that you get the most reflections, and that effect fascinated me. A day of intense but soft
light, the long white rollers following one another in to shore, and the people there to enjoy the day, as I was-I
had to paint it, and will again and again, I'm sure!
Art 31-1, Step 1
I had a number of sketches that I'd done on the spot, but of course I also took resource photos-you can see the one
that inspired me, here. There's no need to try to copy a photo, though - they are just resources. I raised the horizon
line for a better composition-that line in the photo was almost dead center. I also simplified the scene a great deal
- it seemed more expressive to simply have the boy and his dog rather than a beach full of people as you see in
the photo.
Art 31-1
I just sketched in the major lines-hills, dune, beach-and drew the figures more carefully, then protected the latter
here and there with liquid maskoid, to preserve the whites. I wet down the entire paper with clean water and a
large brush, then laid in a graded/variegated wash with cobalt, a bit of ultramarine blue, and a touch of sap green,
keeping the lightest area near the horizon to suggest the foggy distance. I lifted a suggestion of clouds with a
damp paper towel, and let it dry enough to scan.
Art 31-2
Art 31-2, Step 2
The far hills in were laid in with small,
graded washes in varied colors, blotting here
and there to give a bit of definition, then I
added the dune and beach with a 1" flat
brush. I like the freshness a flat brush offers
- and the bigger the brush the less likely I
am to get niggly with details too soon. The
land is mostly yellow ochre and raw sienna
with a bit of blue to cool and gray them, and
the dune grass is a mix of olive and hooker's
green.
Art 31-3, Step 3, and the Problem ...
I added more detail to the land and sea, paying attention to perspective and the vanishing points of each-that helps
suggest distance. The boy and his dog and their reflections were painted using a small round brush-but something
bothered me. I left this to
percolate overnight and Art 31-3
realized in the morning
that the values were too
harshly defined, and the
figures looked as though
they were cut from black
paper and pasted on! I
wasn't trying to copy the
photo, but recapture the
day - so I wasn't wanting
the exact values. Keeping
it lighter in value cap-
tured the feel of the day
at the beach, but the
contrasts were simply too
great, as you can clearly
see in the detail inset.
Art 31-4, Step 4 - the Fix!
So I lifted some of the paint with a small bristle brush and clear water, blotting as I went, then refined the shapes
again with slightly more color. The beach got another light layer of color to darken it somewhat, and I was much
happier with the effect and the relationship between elements in the whole!
This is a wonderful, hard-surfaced watercolor paper, Canson Montval, so I could lift washes easily without
damaging the paper-that was very helpful as I tweaked the waves and the area of reflective wetness in the fore-
ground, as well! Just be sure to keep the water in your brush clean when you're lifting areas, rinse it often, and
remove the excess pigment with a clean paper towel.
Art 31-4
For more on painting the sea, check my North Light book, Watercolor Pencil Magic, (pages 64-66) from your
local bookstore, or from North Light Books, [Link] or from Amazon,
[Link] or buy it direct from me and have it signed, [Link]
I'll be addressing this subject further in my "Watercolor-Online!" classes -- check my website for more informa-
tion on starting dates and so forth!
You'll find my artwork on new products in my Cafepress store at [Link] and
original fine art auctions on eBay at [Link]
© Copyright Cathy Johnson Graphics/Fine Arts, All Rights Reserved
Website: [Link] Email: graphicart@[Link]