How To Paint Seascapes In Watercolor - HowToMixWatercolors.com

How To Paint Seascapes In Watercolor
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Learn how to mix watercolors to match the colors in a seascape. Find out which watercolors to mix for crashing waves, ocean colors, sea foam, beach and wet sand along the shoreline.

You can paint watercolor seascapes!

Everyone loves the ocean! Learn how to paint seascapes with watercolor by following these helpful tips on mixing watercolors for the ocean and painting seascapes!

Anatomy of the waves in an ocean

There are different sections of a wave. The wave face is the part of the wave that has not yet crashed and is about to break (Reference point # 1, 2 and 3). The peak of the wave (or "crest") is the highest part of the wave face (Reference point # 1). Note the "chops" within the wave face - these are the little waves within the wave face.

As the wave rolls over, it "breaks" (Reference point # 4, 5 and 6). In the background you will see "swells" - waves that have not yet crested (Reference point # 10). The swells will typically have hard edges on top and soft edges on the bottom. You will also see the remnants of waves that have already crashed in the foreground (Reference point # 7 and 8) and white blanket foam created by those waves (Reference point # 9). You will also notice darker sections in the foam where the bubbles start to disappear (Reference point # 12)

The area between two waves is called the trough (Reference point # 11). This area is typically flatter and therefore will usually be lighter in color as it picks up the color of the sky.

What color is the ocean? Observe the lighting!

Take note of the shadows and highlights of your seascape. Observe the different colors and tones in your reference photo. The ocean in the backgrounds will typically be darker and more blue - especially the shadows of the swells. The water in the foreground will typically be lighter colored. The crashing wave and foam will be almost white because it is being churned up and mixed with air.

Composition

A best practice is to place your focal point (in this case the crashing wave) in the left or right third of a painting, leaving the other two thirds more open. Your painting area is divided evenly into thirds, both horizontally and vertically, and the focal point is placed at the intersection of those dividing lines, or along one of the lines itself.

Mixing your colors to match the ocean

Begin by masking out any highlights that you want to preserve. Alternatively, you can add White Gouache towards the end of your painting. Next, mix a lot of the color that is the most widespread. You can use this as your starting color for both your highlights and shadows. If the colors are too dark, add more water. If they are too dark, add more paint. When mixing, use plenty of scrap paper to test your color mixes. Remember that watercolors will look slightly lighter when they dry.

In this example, we are recommending a slightly lighter color of Cadmium Orange Hue and Cerulean Blue Hue to use as the most widespread color (Reference point # 11). You can see the recommended mixes for the other areas of the seascape below.

Don’t worry if you do not have the same colors in your palette

We used 24 recommended colors found in a typical artist's palette. Don't worry if you have different colors in your palette. You can use our Match a Color page to upload your reference photo to get color mix suggestions using the colors that are in your watercolor palette.

Northern water seascapes

For less tropical oceans, you'll use the same process. Identify the prevailing color and observe the lighting for both shadows and highlights. You'll turn towards darker colors such as Intense Blue and Cobalt Blue Hue - mixed with Paynes Gray or Lamp Black.

Painting sand with watercolor

The color of the ocean water as it approaches the shoreline will include browns - capturing the color of the sand underneath (Reference point # 19). In this example, we used a light color of Yellow Ochre mixed with a medium color of Cerulean Blue Hue and Raw Umber. As the water gets deeper, it will become less brown and more blue or green (Reference point # 20). Be sure to add a line of shadow along the edge of the foam coming into the shoreline. The dry sand on the beach will be darkest along the water and lighter in the background. We used a very light color of Cadmium Orange Hue mixed with a very light color of Ultramarine (Reference point # 17).

Color Mixes

Image Location #	Mix Color	Paints Used For Mix

1		Cerulean Blue Hue Raw Umber Start with Cerulean Blue Hue with a enough clean water to create a very light color. Add Raw Umber with a some clean water to create a medium color.



2		Emerald Cerulean Blue Hue Start with Emerald. Add Cerulean Blue Hue with a very little amount of clean water to create a slightly lighter color.



3		Viridian Hue Lamp Black Paynes Gray Start with Viridian Hue. Add Lamp Black. Add Paynes Gray.



4		Cadmium Orange Hue Viridian Hue Ultramarine Start with Cadmium Orange Hue with a enough clean water to create a very light color. Add Viridian Hue. Add Ultramarine.



5		Cerulean Blue Hue Lamp Black Paynes Gray Start with Cerulean Blue Hue with a some clean water to create a medium color. Add Lamp Black with a very little amount of clean water to create a slightly lighter color. Add Paynes Gray with a enough clean water to create a very light color.



6		Cadmium Red Deep Hue Viridian Hue Paynes Gray Start with Cadmium Red Deep Hue with a enough clean water to create a very light color. Add Viridian Hue with a enough clean water to create a very light color. Add Paynes Gray with a very little amount of clean water to create a slightly lighter color.



7		Viridian Hue Lamp Black Start with Viridian Hue. Add Lamp Black.



8		Yellow Ochre Intense Blue Paynes Gray Start with Yellow Ochre with a some clean water to create a medium color. Add Intense Blue with a some clean water to create a medium color. Add Paynes Gray with a some clean water to create a medium color.



9		Cadmium Orange Hue Intense Blue Ultramarine Start with Cadmium Orange Hue with a some clean water to create a medium color. Add Intense Blue with a some clean water to create a medium color. Add Ultramarine with a enough clean water to create a very light color.



10		Paynes Gray Use Paynes Gray.



11		Cadmium Orange Hue Cerulean Blue Hue Start with Cadmium Orange Hue with a very little amount of clean water to create a slightly lighter color. Add Cerulean Blue Hue.



12		Intense Blue Paynes Gray Raw Umber Start with Intense Blue with a enough clean water to create a very light color. Add Paynes Gray with a very little amount of clean water to create a slightly lighter color. Add Raw Umber with a some clean water to create a medium color.



13		Hookers Green Dark Intense Blue Cobalt Blue Hue Start with Hookers Green Dark. Add Intense Blue. Add Cobalt Blue Hue.



14		Intense Blue Lamp Black Paynes Gray Start with Intense Blue. Add Lamp Black. Add Paynes Gray.



15		Cobalt Blue Hue Cerulean Blue Hue Paynes Gray Start with Cobalt Blue Hue with a some clean water to create a medium color. Add Cerulean Blue Hue with a very little amount of clean water to create a slightly lighter color. Add Paynes Gray with a very little amount of clean water to create a slightly lighter color.



16		Viridian Hue Cobalt Blue Hue Ultramarine Start with Viridian Hue with a enough clean water to create a very light color. Add Cobalt Blue Hue with a enough clean water to create a very light color. Add Ultramarine with a enough clean water to create a very light color.



17		Cadmium Orange Hue Ultramarine Start with Cadmium Orange Hue with a enough clean water to create a very light color. Add Ultramarine with a enough clean water to create a very light color.



18		Indian Red Cadmium Orange Hue Emerald Start with Indian Red with a little amount of clean water to create a lighter color. Add Cadmium Orange Hue with a enough clean water to create a very light color. Add Emerald with a little amount of clean water to create a lighter color.



19		Yellow Ochre Cerulean Blue Hue Raw Umber Start with Yellow Ochre with a very little amount of clean water to create a slightly lighter color. Add Cerulean Blue Hue with a some clean water to create a medium color. Add Raw Umber with a very little amount of clean water to create a slightly lighter color.



20		Indian Red Hookers Green Dark Intense Blue Start with Indian Red with a little amount of clean water to create a lighter color. Add Hookers Green Dark. Add Intense Blue with a some clean water to create a medium color.

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