Watercolor

Side Surfer

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

Side Surfer by Eileen McKenna. Watercolor painting available as limited edition giclee art prints | beach | surfing | surfer | waves
I primarily paint from my own photos. It’s nice to incorporate that into the process of a painting – capturing a moment that strikes me and later painting it. This painting is from a photo I took at my hometown beach of Long Beach, NY.

It’s taken from the angle of one set of jetties, looking towards the next set – the “side.” What I love about this painting is how much it reminds me of Long Beach – the jetty, the color of the water, the surfer, the waves, even the familiar angle – as you cross over the rocks and step onto the next beach.

“Side Surfer” is part of “the Blue Collection” and is available as a Limited Edition Giclee Art Print in my online shop!

Blue Wave #11

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

"Blue Wave #11" by Eileen McKenna. Watercolor ocean paintings available as art giclee prints. Beach | ocean | art | surf | waves
This painting was a break through for me. It was the first painting where I used white gouache – more opaque than watercolor paint – to paint the foam and spray. Before this I relied on the white of the paper for those areas. Using gouache allowed me to create more depth in the foam and waves.

When I polled family and friends on which of my paintings I should make available as prints, everyone had #11 on their list. (#11 was the number I’d assigned to it.) It was written so often, it became #11 in my mind, so it seemed fitting to call it Blue Wave #11.

When I posted Blue Wave #11, I got such a great response! Comments included, “I can smell the salty air of the ocean” and “Soothing, as if I can almost hear the wave breaking.” It’s gratifying to feel you’ve made a breakthrough and then also have people respond to positively.

“Blue Wave #11” is part of “the Blue Collection” and is available as a Limited Edition Giclee Art Print in my online shop!

Waiting

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

Waiting by Eileen McKenna. Beach watercolor painting. Ocean landscape. The Blue Collection
This watercolor was painted at the beginning of my “painting the beach” project, in early January. The painting is based on a photo I took on New Year’s Day. You can tell it’s a cold day because the surfer – who is just noticeable – is all in black, in a wetsuit and cap. He has let a wave pass him by while he waits for a better one, hence the name of the painting “Waiting.”

“Waiting” is part of “the Blue Collection” and is available as a Limited Edition Giclee Art Print in my online shop!

The Blue Collection

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

The Blue Collection by Eileen McKenna | watercolor beach ocean landscapes available as limited edition giclee art prints
The Blue Collection is the first set of watercolor paintings I released as prints. When I first showed the giclee printer my favorite watercolor paintings she sorted them and pointed out that in these four, the water is shades of blue, while in others it is green. I immediately saw it too, and so the Blue Collection was born. One of the things that amazes me about the ocean is that the water can be different colors on different days.

The paintings in the Blue Collection are (from left to right):

The Blue Collection is available as a Limited Edition Giclee Art Print in my online shop!

Watercolor Seascape Tutorial Download

Painting a Crashing Wave

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

Painting a crashing wave in watercolor
The goal of this painting was to capture the details of the wave as it crashes – the shadows inside the foam, the spray, the movement.

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Prints of my watercolor beach paintings are now for sale at shop.eileenmckenna.com. Take a peek!
The Blue Collection by Eileen McKenna | watercolor beach ocean landscapes available as limited edition giclee art prints

Capturing the Ocean in Watercolor

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

Painting the beach nd ocean in watercolor

I’ve aspired to capture the ocean in watercolor for years. In December I made “painting the beach” my New Year’s project. The snow was falling outside, but I was inside painting waves. With each painting I learned and improved.

Some of my firsts in early January.
Painting waves in watercolor

I watched a few YouTube videos and learned from others (and wrote about it here.)
14 tips on painting waves in watercolor

I tried new tools and supplies and incorporated them into my process.
Process for Painting the Beach in Watercolor

I’ve kept with it and over six months later I still often paint the ocean. In some ways I feel like I’ve found my thing.

Yesterday I was standing in the ocean, watching the waves break, watching the foam churned up by the waves wash in and out. It was surreal, like standing in a painting and all I could think about was white gouache.

Original beach watercolor landscape by Eileen McKenna

Have you read:
Six Ways to bring the Beach into your Home https://mycreativeresolution.com/2017/05/19/six-ways-to-brin…h-into-your-home/

A Collection of Paintings

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

Choosing paintings for art prints
I asked for help in deciding which paintings to make art prints of. I laid many of my beach landscapes on the table, numbered them, and asked my family and a close friend to pick their favorites. One painting, was clearly a favorite. There was overlap on a couple of others.

At the giclee printer, I laid out the top choices. The woman there – Nadia – showed me how four of the paintings worked together because the color of the ocean in them was blue, while three others were green.

Wow, as soon as she grouped them I saw them in a new light. That was it for me. First we would make prints of the “Blue Collection,” and hopefully soon after the “Green Collection.” Nadia also pointed out that instead of going by the color, you could also group by shape – the square paintings, and the horizontals. But for me, this color grouping was perfect.

Here is the Blue Collection.
Watercolor jetty. Beach painting. Painting waves/the ocean.    Watercolor beach painting Watercolor beach landscape by Eileen McKenna

Painting swimmers

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

Swimming Laps watercolor painting

A few years ago, inspired by the swimmers during warm ups at a swim meet, I created the watercolor painting above. I loved the perspective of the painting, but always wanted to create another version with richer more saturated colors. And I did – see my steps below.

I taped off the edges of my paper with thick painter’s tape, to create a white border. I marked where the swimming lane lines would be with a pencil and ruler.

I painted the swimmers first, so I could add blue paint (water) over parts of them, so those parts would look like they were underwater.

Process for painting swimming pool in watercolor

When the swimmers were completely dry I painted the blue pool water. I tried to keep the blue in the lane line areas lighter.

Process for painting swimming pool in watercolor

Once dry, I painted the swimming lines using a flat brush, red watercolor paint and white gouache.

Swimming Laps. Painting swimming pools in watercolor.

Next, I added more blue to darken the water in areas. I also added white gouache around the swimmers for splash.

swim art | painting swimmers | pool art print | swimming art print
The richer colors make such a difference. Makes me want to dive right in! The perfect painting for the swimmer in your life. Create one or order a print on canvas (pictured above), paper, acrylic, and more on Zazzle – click here to visit my Zazzle shop.

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