How to Paint the Ocean on Canvas
Painting the ocean requires a different approach than painting other subject matter. It can help to think of a body of water as blocks of color, rather than as a massive shifting entity. Some of the process will depend on your chosen medium and preferred style but, regardless of technique, it can be challenging and rewarding to capture the ocean's essence with paint.
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Instructions
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Study your subject matter. Your best bet is to go the ocean, but photographs, videos and other paintings can suffice. Note the variations of color from the depths of the ocean to the caps of the waves. On a clear day, the top layer before the waves' crests might be blue, while the deeper segments will be dark green or brown. However, the angle of the sun may shift colors, adding tones of violet, red, pink, orange, gray, black, gold, silver or turquoise.
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Determine your technique and materials. Watercolors allow for a dappled effect while oils allow more nuances and mixing and acrylics create bold, flat tones. Other options for your piece are spray paint, airbrush and mixed media. Some of these decisions may be determined by the style in which you wish to work. There are ocean paintings represented in every school of art, from classical to abstract, surreal to impressionist.
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Paint your background, which can be one color or several colors, and flat or textured. Add foreground by painting in angles and shapes with blocks of color. Create depth by adding detail to the foreground, applying more pigment or applying darker shading. Don't worry about exact representation; rather, explore the moodiness of the ocean. Remember that a significant portion of the composition can be devoted to sky or sand, not to mention ships or figures.
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Add elements of light to the composition to keep the ocean from appearing flat and lifeless. Bring in colors for highlights and contrasts to show the play of sun across the waves. Use white and light colors to show movement and to accent the break of the waves. Shade the area around the foam to give it contrast. Shift the direction of your lines to show patterns of movement.
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Step away from the composition to give you perspective on your work as a whole. Ask yourself which segments need to pop to give the composition dimension, a feat you can accomplish by adding glaze to certain details of the painting. Consider glazing only the water or the whole sky.
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Tips & Warnings
Create a series of ocean paintings exploring different techniques.
Clean brushes immediately after painting.
