Hey guys! Here's a bit of painting waves practice I got into last night and since it's something that's way out of my normal scope of painting I am happy how it turned out. This was done under the tutelage of master artist Aaran Blaise and I learnt a massive amount in a short time about colours and how waves roll. Overall it took about 1 1/2 hours to complete. It actually really makes me want to go down the beach this afternoon now!
Please note that I am far from a master artist or even an above average artist and don't consider myself a teacher of any kind, I just like to share. This is learning for me so there are probably tons of things I need to work on and as I always say, growing as an artist is a never ending journey! I believe even the greatest of artists continue to learn and practice for their whole lives as it is the journey and not the destination. I just hope you get as much joy out of this image as I did creating it 😊
Firstly I like to start with a mid-tone grey background and lay down some rough lines, keeping in mind the flow of the waves. This particular wave image was from Aaron's video but I am now confident I can do it from life or any other image.
Next I put in some loose lines with a wide brush to set the under-colour of the waves. I can see where the shadows and highlights will start to appear. These colours are picked from a warm range of bluey greens being careful not to go too cool or saturated. Take a look around and you'll see most natural colours aren't really that bright. The brush doesn't really matter at this stage, just something wide and rough to get the colour down.
I add a bit of cooler tones for the top part of the waves to show the colour reflecting from the sky. Where the lighter cooler colours are are 'planes' that are reflecting the sky and the darker warmer areas are obviously in shadow.
Switching now to a smaller brush and selecting the option for the brush to taper off at the ends, I start to add in a bit more detail and focus on more cooler yellowy tones. Don't go too saturated with the colour or else it will look cartoony and move away from realism.
This is the fun part! Adding in cooler light greens to show the sunlight coming through the thin part of the waves. I see now I may have over-saturated the colour a bit and will learn from this for next time. Maybe it isn't super realistic but looks really nice and you can start to see how cooler tones can make an image pop. I also get rid of the initial outline as it's no longer necessary.
To finish off the image I use a smaller brush to make random lines but still keeping it flowing with the natural direction of the wave and trying to make it feel natural. Finally I use a more solid brush to add some highlights to the top of the waves and by using a 'colour dodge' overlay you can make these highlights just a tad brighter.
I hope you got something out of this painting and please note that I am far from an expert at this. I'm learning every time I paint to become a better artist and add more knowledge and tools to my artistic expression. I really hope you get something out of this too, whether it be inspiration or even just a bit of happiness to your day 😊
