How to Paint a Sand Dune
Sand dunes have a soft shape that is easy to paint. The interesting part of the painting is the colors. The sand dune can take on many shades of yellow, orange, red and white during the day. When the night comes, the dune can appear different shades of blue, white, red or gray. The most important part of painting your dune is to have fun. You can use your imagination on the coloring and add details like footsteps or small patches of vegetation to your dune.
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Instructions
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Sketch the basic shape of the dune onto your paper lightly with a charcoal pencil. Capture the overall shape of the dune in the sketch. Add minor details like small tufts of grass and shadowing into the sketch.
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Draw an "X" on the side of the page where you will put your source of light. Leave the source of light out of the picture, but use its placement to determine where you need to put highlights and shadowing. For example, if the source of light in your image is to the left, your shadows must go on the right of the object you paint.
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3
Cover the background of the image with paint. If you have a sky in the background or a mountain range, you want to create the background first so you don't accidentally paint over your dune later. Allow the paint to dry before you continue.
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Paint the dune with the main colors of the sand. For example, if the primary color of your dune is yellow, color the dune yellow. Use acrylic paint, because you can easily cover over any mistakes.
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Mix the paint of the primary color with the paint of the highlights in your image. Paint the new color onto the part of the image where your color highlight begins. Add more and more highlight color the further you get into the high light territory, so it makes a slow transition.
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Mix the paint color for your shadow with that of the primary paint. Add the shadows to your image the same way you added the highlights. Start with a slow transition of color and continue adding a deeper-colored paint until you make a dark shadow.
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Add small strokes of light-colored paint to the shadows and dark-colored paint to the highlights. Sand dunes aren't completely smooth, so adding these little details gives your image depth.
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Allow the paint to dry on the dune before you add any grass. Use a thin brush to create blades of grass. Use gray and brown paint for the grass to make it more realistic looking.
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Tips & Warnings
Wash your brushes thoroughly after each use to keep them functional. Acrylic paint can ruin a brush if you allow it to dry in the brush hairs.
References
- Photo Credit blazing desert skies image by Paul Moore from Fotolia.com
