Projects

Tips and tools that prove invaluable

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

Watercolor beach painting
When I think about the progress I’ve made in the past two months, there are a few things that standout out to me. First watching videos of other artists painting waves gave me some great tips (which I wrote about here.)

Second, one of the artists was using a flat brush so I bought a couple to try. The smaller flat brush has become invaluable to me.

Lastly, when I started using white gouache for the foam of the waves it was a turning point.

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The Blue Collection by Eileen McKenna | watercolor beach ocean landscapes available as limited edition giclee art prints

Read:
14 tips on painting waves in watercolor Process for Painting the Beach in Watercolor

Process for Painting the Beach in Watercolor

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

There is a real benefit to painting the same subject over and over. You get better at it, and after trying different things, over time you develop a process. You develop a series a steps that you follow every time you paint.

Crashing Wave by Eileen McKenna

Process for painting watercolor seascapes

Here is a summary of my process. Keep reading for links to more in depth resources.

  1. Mix seascape colors  – I mix blues, greens, and browns from ultramarine blue, cadmium yellow, and cadmium red.
  2. Mark the horizon line. I use painter’s tape to achieve a straight horizon line.
  3. Paint the ocean water closest to the horizon darker and bluer.
  4. Paint the water in the cresting wave lighter and greener.
  5. Paint the shallow water near shore brown.
  6. Paint the sand. The sand is darkest closer to the ocean where it is wetter.
  7. Paint the crashing waves with white gouache.
  8. Paint the foam with white gouache and a flat brush. Horizontal lines help this area appear flat.
  9. Add shadows to the breaking wave.
  10. Paint the sky as a blue fade that is lighter closest to horizon.
Easy Watercolor Seascape online video lesson for beginners
My video lesson shows you the complete process for painting seascapes. Learn more here.

Learn more about painting watercolor seascapes:

I share my step by step process for painting watercolor seascapes in the following tutorials. Choose the format that works best for you:

Printable Watercolor Seascape Tutorial

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Related post:

Read “Tips on Painting Waves in Watercolor”

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Beginner Watercolor Exploration Guide
https://eileenmckenna.com/guide/
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  • Practice with exercises & projects.
  • Discover a love of watercolor!

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 Process for Painting the Beach in Watercolor

Beach Heart

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

Beach Heart paintingPainting this beach heart was as peaceful and relaxing as sitting on the beach itself. Before I sat down to paint I was looking through my work for something to post on Valentine’s Day. I usually don’t post things from my archives – not that there is anything wrong with that. It just sometimes feels disjointed from what I’ve been working on.

With Valentine’s Day and hearts on my mind, I sat down to paint and thought of a beach scene in the shape of a heart. I think practicing, and working out a process for painting the beach, was a great help in painting the heart from start to finish in one sitting. Ah the sense of accomplishment!

Have a happy Valentine’s Day!

14 tips on painting waves in watercolor

 

New life for an old project

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

claddaghfairy

I’ve become obsessed with Pinterest lately. I guess it started when I designed my Nutcracker pin and was pinning other types of nutcrackers. I pin to my Beach board – other paintings of the beach, beach decor, etc. Pinterest is really a great place to collect ideas. I’ve also been pinning ideas for holidays like Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, and Easter. It’s very inspiring. The real trick is to turn all that pinning into creating!

This year I haven’t really done much for Valentine’s Day. Years prior, I’ve painted, block stamped, and even created string art. I’ve been too focused on my beach painting project and didn’t want to lose focus. In looking ahead to St. Patrick’s Day, I decided to go through my previous artwork and perhaps design a fabric print in the Irish theme. As I dug through a bin of old projects I found “The Claddagh Fairy,” a book I wrote and worked hard to illustrate when I first started this blog. I put a lot of time effort into the book. I even had a doll made! What a shame that it is sitting in a bin.

irishmeadow

claddagh fairy doll 2

With St. Patrick’s Day a little over a month away, I decided to dust off the book and release it into the world by self publishing it. It’s not about the possibility of book sales, it’s about finishing and sharing a project I worked hard on. I find tight deadlines very motivating, so I’ve been working these past few days, tweaking the story, finishing the artwork, and preparing the files for printing. Even though I’m a graphic designer, I’ve never self published before, and it’s overwhelming. I found a great, very detailed post about it. If self publishing is in the back of your mind – read it here.

Even as I write this, it still seems impossible that I’ll get this done, that the files will be right, the dedication will be in the right place, etc. But, I’m committed to seeing this through, until “The Claddagh Fairy,” is part of the Amazon collection. The luck of the Irish would come in handy right now.

Adding beach bodies to my paintings

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

Painting figures on the beachI’m proud of the progress I’ve made since starting to paint the beach on January 1st. I feel as if I’m finally capturing the movement of the waves. But something has been missing. Around here on a beautiful summer day the beaches are packed with people. Sometimes we struggle to find a good spot down by the water.

So, I’ve been collecting my photos that include people and trying to incorporate them into my paintings. Last night I did some loose brush sketches. Painting figures in my sketchbook

Today, I worked on refining the water in a painting where I had penciled in several people. Then I erased the pencil lines and using a watercolor pencil drew in the figures so I knew where to add paint. Figures don’t come easy to me and I have to work at a figure to get it right. Watercolor pencils are great because it’s easy to “erase” your lines by wetting them. You can mix the lines into the other colors or absorb them onto your brush.

I’m hoping if I focus on beach bodies for a while, I’ll see progress, like I’ve seen with my waves.

Here’s my favorite wave painting so far. Painting waves in watercolor

Have your read these posts yet?
 19 Books for Creatives 11 Art Supplies I can't paint without

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Painting within a theme for 31 days

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

Painting the beach my 31 day projectThis month I worked almost daily painting the beach. It’s a place that is very close to my heart. I grew up just a few blocks away from it. My mom referred to it as our backyard. I played there, I worked there, and eventually brought my own kids there.

That's me on the left, age 3 or 4
That’s me on the left, age 3 or 4.

I learned a lot this month. I’ve tried different techniques to capture the foam of the ocean – leave the white of the paper, use a white gel pen, use lots of white gouache. I’ve used different blues in my ocean mixture. I painted landscapes, as well as people close up. But, I feel it’s just the tip of the iceberg. There is so much more for me to learn and explore within this theme. So, not surprisingly, I’m continuing with my beach painting project. It probably would have been better to declare this a 100 day project from the start. Although that would have been a bit intimidating.

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