How to Oil Paint an Ocean
Landscape paintings, made famous by world-renowned painters such as Aert van der Neer and Jacob van Ruisdael, offer the viewer an interesting and intriguing depiction of nature. Painting a body of water in any form can be a challenge, as water changes in anatomy in different circumstances. But you can create a realistic-looking ocean by combining the necessary supplies with proper painting techniques.
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Things You'll Need
- Light blue oil paint
- Dark blue oil paint
- White oil paint
- Paintbrushes, large and small
- Painter's palette
- 1 piece of art paper or canvas
Instructions
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Pour small amounts of dark blue, light blue, and white oil paint onto a painter's palette. This keeps the colors separate and ensures easy access to the paint while you work.
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Dip a large paintbrush into the dark blue paint and brush across a piece of art paper or canvas, creating a slightly wavy line about halfway up. Continue the line across to the other side, and fill in the bottom section with additional dark blue paint.
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Wait for the paint to dry completely. Oil paints take more time to dry than other types, such as acrylics which are quite fast drying, and it can take up to a few days for the paint to be dry to the touch.
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Dip a small paintbrush into the light blue paint and paint thin lines across the top section of the water to create ripples in the water. Apply them in a random pattern and make them of varying lengths.
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Dip a small paintbrush into the white paint and paint a thin line just above each light blue line to create highlighting and add depth and definition to the painting.
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Paint the rest of the landscape to finish the painting. Use pink, purple and orange shades to create a sunset sky, add large gray rocks in the water, or add peaking waves with light blue and white hues to create intense waves.
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References
- Photo Credit painting brush image by peter Hires Images from Fotolia.com
