Making Final Adjustments to Ocean Wave Oil Painting

After looking at my oil painting of an ocean wave seascape I decided to make a few value and color changes. The foreground wave skimming along the sand appeared too dark so I lightened that area. I added a greenish color to the light area of the crashing wave. This is closer to the actually color of the wave itself.

These are all steps I take when finishing up a painting. Taking a few days or weeks to view the painting and deciding if I can make improvements.

Seascape Oil Painting - Next Step In Painting Ocean Wave in Oil

I am continuing to refine and improve the details in this oil painting of a beach and wave. When you compare the previous posts in this painting demonstration you can see how I have worked from a pencil sketch to a detailed painting. The overall colors of this shoreline scene change as I work towards finishing the painting.

This painting is 16" x 20" and is painted on a Gessobord by Ampersand. This product has a nice smooth finish and that was what I decided to use for this ocean wave painting. Check back to see how the oil painting looks as I finish up this seascape.

Continuing Seascape Oil Painting of Ocean Wave With Sandy Beach

As you compare the 3rd stage of this seascape with the previous stages, there is more detail to the entire surface of the oil painting. I started with the blue sky area by adding a few light clouds. The sky will be rather simple because the wave and beach surf in this seascape is where all the action will be.

After painting the sky I then I worked on the left side of the wave along with the background water. As I am working on each area I pay close attention to the values. The curling wave on the left side of the oil painting has 3 distinct values of that I blended together. Lastly I started painting the sandy beach area with the incoming wave with the foam edge. As you compare each of the previous stages I think this seascape of a breaking ocean wave is coming together.

2nd Stage In Painting an Ocean Wave with a Sandy Beach in Oil Paint

At this stage in the seascape oil painting of an ocean wave and a sandy beach, I have completed the initial block-in of the ocean wave and the beach. Basically I have covered the canvas with paint. I am trying to follow my pencil sketch except I am using color. Below the pencil sketch shows the placement of everything in the painting and it also shows the values. The 2nd stage does not have any detail but I try to put as much of the colors in that I anticipate using in later stages of this oil painting seascape. Also I can see areas at this stage where I need to change the values. I will continue working this weekend on the beach painting so check back next week to see how it progresses.

Painting Watercolor Washes - Creating Mood in a Painting

Here is a recent watercolor that I have completed of a foggy, grey day at the Saybrook Breakwater Lighthouse located at the mouth of the Connecticut River in Long Island Sound. There is a small pond near Katherine Hepburn's old house in the Fenwick section of town that overlooks the lighthouse and that is what I have painted here in this watercolor.

In the watercolor class that I teach at Artisans Harbor in Saybrook , CT we have been practicing washes and the painting here I started with a nice grey wash of raw sienna first and then a mix of ultramaine blue and raw umber to create the moody background. This watercolor is all framed in a double off-white mat with a thin gold frame and can be viewed at Artisans Harbor on Main St. in Old Saybrook, CT or it can be shipped. The painting price is $250.

If you have any questions about the painting please send along an email.
Thanks, PJ

Sketch For The Laughing Gulls Seascape Painting

This is the sketch of the laughing gulls that I did in the same size that the finished seascape painting will be when it is finished. I am painting these laughing gulls on a Ampersand board in 12" by 16".  I did this drawing of the birds the same size they will be on the board.

You can see where I started each bird with a basic oval shape for the body and another smaller oval for the head. From there I refined each bird, adding more detail while trying to keep the initial gesture or pose for each bird. The other important step is keeping the birds to scale. I want these shorebirds to be fairly accurate in my painting so I pay attention to all of the gulls features.

I have created distance by reducing the size of the birds as they recede in the scene. These are some of the preliminary steps that I take when planning a painting. If you take the time to do these steps the outcome of the painting should be better.

Creating Texture In Acrylic Painting - Guaranteed to Improve Your Paintings

Two ways to create texture in acrylic painting is to spatter paint and the other is to mix modeling paste with the paint. In the example above I spattered many different colors of paint onto the canvas.  I used a large brush loaded with paint and tapped the brush against my hand, dropping and spattering drops of paint. I used cobalt blue, raw sienna, yellow ochre, burnt umber and white.

Once that had dried I mixed modeling paste with yellow ochre and applied it with a palette knife, you can see the rough texture that created over the spattering. This technique is being used for a beach scene that I am painting and the section shown here is sand and pebbles, rocks and a log. My next post will show my progress with this seascape painting.

Experiment with different techniques like adding texture in your paintings and I guarantee it will improve your paintings.