Hello there, Hive friends! My love for the ocean is one thing that is undeniable. Observing the sea waves hitting the bay brings relaxation to my veins, and that is why at times I just want to capture such images in my paintings.

In this blog, I am presenting to you all another painting session using my sketchbook and gouache paints. I will show you the process of how an empty piece of paper turned into something else.

I am one of those who prefer laying down the outlines first before painting. Well, let us just say that the presence of the initial sketch helps me better visualize what I am trying to create. Because, to be honest, I am not that confident enough to directly lay down the paints on the paper.

So, starting off, I sketched my outline to distinguish the waves from the sand. I tried so hard to make the sketch very light using my mechanical pencil.

For the second step, I laid down the base colors for the water and the sand. I used a bright blue for the seawater and a light yellowish earth brown color for the sand.

I am sorry, you guys; I cannot exactly tell you the name of the colors I used because I just recently got rid of my gouache paints since molds infested it, and I can no longer bring myself to clean the palette because the last time I did, I got so sick and found out that I am allergic to molds.

And here I am again sharing too much information again rather than focusing on the painting process hahahahah. I am so sorry. 🤡

Anyway, to continue with the process, after I completely laid down the main colors on the page, I grabbed my detail brush and using the white paint I started making random wiggly lines to create the waves.

In this process, there is no specific way on how I did this. I simply used feelings and let my hand flow softly to create the lines. Another important thing to do when you start painting on your sketchbook is to use a clip to hold the paper since the water from your brushes may cause it to wrinkle, especially when the paper you are using is on the thinner side.

After doing so, I grabbed a darker shade of blue to add the shadows. Adding shadows to your paintings is one of the most important steps that one must not forget if they wish to make their artwork a bit more realistic. But take note, it is also very important not to overdo it. To tell you, I actually overdid the shadows on some areas ahahaha.

And here’s the final output! ✨

What do you think? Does it resemble the waves? This subject is pretty simple to paint actually, and anyone can give it a shot if they want. It is a perfect subject to create if you want to do a little study. It was a fun and a relaxing process.

That is all for this blog! It is quite short, but I hope you guys enjoyed the process and learned some techniques from what I have shared. I am thinking of doing an artwork tour on my next blog, a series on where I will create a virtual art gallery for my paintings and drawings.

Would you be interested in that?

Well, whether you are or not, I am still doing it anyway since I want to hahahaha. But still I would love to hear your thoughts about it tehe!

See ya around, my dear Hive friends. 🦋