Painting water can be challenging. Here are 5 things to consider while painting water that helped me a lot.
- Establish overall value and color by simplifying what you see.
- Look for value change from back to front. Must be different to create depth. Up close is darker and gets lighter as it recedes into the background.
- The water needs to be darker than the sky (even if you don’t see it that way), otherwise your painting will look flat.
- The object is to create depth and light and to suggest instead of copying what you see.
- Create movement with brushwork.
- Edges in water are softer than what they reflect.
This is the video that inspired this post: https://youtu.be/M_RvkiKJDCY?si=8bO7WP5pgQkAJGI0
After watching the video I re-painted the following canvas. On the left is the original painting which does look flat with the lighter water. On the right is the finished painting with a darker water color that helped to create depth. I let the water be still to create a sense of peace.
The reference photo showed a lot of light in the water, but you don’t have to paint everything you see. Decisions should always be directed enhancing the design to make the painting sing!
