How To Paint Water With Watercolours

Painting water with watercolors can be so calming and is always captivating but it definitely takes practice. Experiment with different techniques and observe how light and reflections play on the water's surface. With patience and practice, you'll capture the serene beauty of water in your watercolor paintings. Enjoy the process of bringing fluidity and life to your artwork! Let’s get started :)

Choose Your Theme:

Select a harmonious choice of blues, greens, and perhaps a touch of gray or purple for depth. If you want a more dawn waterscape, you could opt for ultramarine blue, dark green, and white; always have a charcoal black for adding any deeper shadows. Consider the mood and lighting of your scene and choose the colours that fit the best.

Compose The Scene:

Draw the basic shapes and horizon line lightly with a pencil. Build your composition further; you can use a picture you clicked yourself or just use your imagination. Think of your foreground and background. As things get closer, you will see more details and as things move further, they will look more blurry.

Start with the Sky and Background:

Begin by painting the sky and any distant elements that reflect in the water. Watercolours work best in layers of washes. You ca use light washes and blend colors to create a soft, atmospheric effect that is so hypnotizing! When it comes to highlights, leave the area dry with no water or colour.

Build Depth

To build some depth in the ocean waves, layer your watercolors slowly and add depth in the water. Start with the lighter colors for the distant water and gradually add darker shades as you move closer to the foreground. ONLY Wet the area of paper where you want to paint the water. Drop in diluted blues and greens; what really bring the best effects is letting the colors blend naturally to mimic the fluidity of water.

Create Reflections

Add some interest in your composition with reflections of objects in water. Reflect trees, mountains, or birds from the sky and anything surrounding the water. Paint them with slightly muted colors and use horizontal strokes to suggest ripples or movement. Once the initial layers dry, remember to add details like highlights where the light hits the water, we leave the area empty on paper and for darker tones where shadows are cast, we use the same colour in layers (don’t add direct black watercolour paint unless really necessary).

The Most Fun Part

Use techniques like dry brushing or salt sprinkling to create textures like waves or foam on the water surface. This is a cherry on top as your painting will look amazing with those little details that salt sprinkling left. Adjust colors, tones, and details as needed to achieve the desired realism and vibes.