Marcus Chen
Painting a beach sunset is an easy way to add bright colours to your decor. To paint a beach sunset, you'll need to understand which colours to use and how to blend them. You can use a combination of ultramarine blue, fluorescent pink, cadmium red medium hue, and cadmium yellow medium hue. You can also add texture by using sand in the paint. The painting can be done on a canvas or a wood pallet board.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Colours | Ultramarine blue, fluorescent pink, cadmium red, cadmium yellow, red, orange, yellow, green, white, Prussian blue, cobalt blue, wicker white, moon yellow, coffee latte, linen |
| Materials | Canvas, wood, acrylic paint, ruler, pencil, 3/4" flat brush, small round brush (size 5 or equivalent), tin can, sponge, tape, chip brush |
| Techniques | Divide the canvas into thirds (sky, ocean, sand), blend colours with horizontal strokes, paint palm trees with thin black lines, add texture with sand, trace a half-circle for the sun, smudge the edges of the sun, paint the horizon line |
What You'll Learn
Choose your colours: reds, oranges, pinks, blues, purples, and yellows
When painting a beach sunset, it's essential to understand which colours to use to capture its vibrant beauty. The colours you choose will depend on the sunset you envision. For a captivating sunset, you can combine reds, oranges, pinks, blues, purples, and yellows.
Reds, oranges, and yellows are the classic sunset hues. These warm colours evoke the feeling of a vibrant, energetic sunset. You can mix red and yellow to create orange, adjusting the ratio to obtain the desired shade. Adding white will create a softer, pastel shade, while adding more red or using a chromatic black will result in a darker, richer tone.
Blues and purples are perfect for capturing the serene and enchanting beauty of a beach sunset. The blue ocean and sky reflect the sun's fading light, creating a calming atmosphere. You can mix blue and red to create purple, adjusting the ratio for a lighter or darker shade. Adding white will create a softer lilac shade, while adding more blue or using a darker shade like Prussian Blue will result in a deeper, more intense purple.
Pinks add a unique, enchanting touch to your sunset. They can be combined with blues to create a vibrant, fluorescent shade or with reds and oranges for a softer, romantic hue. Playing with the ratios and adding white or darker shades will allow you to explore various pink shades.
Remember, you can create a beautiful sunset with any colours you choose. Feel free to experiment and invent your magical sunset!
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Divide the canvas: split it into thirds for sky, ocean, and sand
To paint a beach sunset, it is important to divide your canvas into three sections: the sky, the ocean, and the sand. This composition will make your painting more appealing to the eye and balanced.
Firstly, grab a ruler and a pencil. Use the ruler to divide the canvas into thirds, marking out the three sections with the pencil. The top third will be the sky, the middle will be the ocean, and the bottom third will be the sand. This top section will also be your horizon line.
Once you have your sections marked out, you can start painting the sky. Using a 3/4" flat brush, paint the top inch of the canvas with ultramarine blue, using horizontal back-and-forth strokes. Without cleaning the brush, pick up some fluorescent pink paint and, keeping the same stroke motion, paint the next inch down from the blue. This will create a vibrant sunset sky.
Now you can move on to the ocean. Double load your 3/4" flat brush with Prussian Blue and Blue Cobalt Hue. Start painting horizontal strokes onto the canvas, with Prussian Blue at the top, and add more blue as you work your way down the canvas. As you get closer to the beach, add a touch of Wicker White to the Cobalt Hue to lighten the ocean colour.
Finally, for the sand, use the same 3/4" flat brush, double-loaded with Linen and Wicker White. Paint the beach, following the contours of the sand. You can add a touch of Coffee Latte to the sand colour to create variation and depth. If you want to add stars to your sky, you can cover the bottom of the sunset with paper to avoid splatter.
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Paint the sky: blend colours with horizontal strokes
To paint a beach sunset, you'll need to understand which colours to use to capture its vibrant beauty. Start with a combination of ultramarine blue, fluorescent pink, cadmium red medium hue, and cadmium yellow medium hue. The shorter wavelengths of blue and green light scatter more easily, leaving behind longer wavelengths like red, orange, and yellow.
Now, let's focus on painting the sky. Using a 3/4" flat brush, start with ultramarine blue and paint horizontal back-and-forth strokes about 1 inch down from the top of the canvas. Without cleaning the brush, pick up some fluorescent pink paint and, using horizontal strokes, paint the pink about 1 inch below where the blue ends. You can also try blending with a chip brush in a figure-eight motion.
If you want to add the sun, use a mix of wicker white and moon yellow, adding more white to make it brighter. You can leave the edges crisp or smudge them slightly to create a shimmering effect. To smudge, drag a dry brush lightly across the sun before it dries completely.
For a more textured look, you can double-load your brush with linen and wicker white and pounce it up and down over the canvas to create a mottled effect. Alternatively, you can use a scrunched-up piece of sponge for this technique.
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Paint the ocean: add darker blue for the waterline
To paint the ocean, you'll want to start by dividing your canvas into thirds: the top third is the sky, the middle is the ocean, and the bottom third is the sand. This will make your painting more visually appealing and balanced.
Now, onto the ocean itself. After painting the sunset, it's time to paint the water. If you want a crisp horizon line, use some tape to mask off the sunset sky and keep the line clean. Then, with your Prussian Blue and Blue Cobalt Hue loaded onto a 3/4" flat brush, start painting horizontal strokes onto the canvas, adding more paint as you work your way down. As you get closer to the beach, lighten the shade of blue by adding Wicker White to the mix.
Once you've painted the ocean and are happy with the coverage, you can remove the tape. Now, to add depth to your painting, take a slightly darker blue than the one you used for the ocean and paint the waterline. Use a chip brush to blend the darker blue into the ocean colour, creating a seamless finish.
You can now add any final touches you'd like, such as stars, flowers, or even flamingos!
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Add details: paint palm trees, a beach umbrella, and stars
Now that you've painted the sunset, it's time to add some details to your beach scene! If you want to include palm trees, a beach umbrella, and stars, here's a step-by-step guide to help you:
Palm Trees
Start by painting the palm tree stumps. Use a small round brush (size 5 or equivalent) to paint two thin black lines starting from the bottom left corner of your canvas towards the middle. These will be the stumps of your palm trees.
Next, add the palm tree fronds. Create 5-7 thin curved lines extending from the top of each palm tree stump. To fill in the fronds, use small and quick strokes, starting from the frond line and working outward. Curve the lines slightly to give them a natural shape. Repeat this step for all the palm fronds.
Thicken the palm tree stumps by adding a bit more black paint, making the bottom of the stump thicker and gradually tapering it towards the top.
Beach Umbrella
On the right side of the palm trees, use the same black paint to sketch a small beach umbrella. Outline the lines and edges of the umbrella with "mars black." If you want a colorful umbrella like the green one in the "Seaside Parade" painting, add white division lines and use "mars black" to outline the bottom edging.
Stars
If you want to add stars to your painting, be careful not to get paint splatters on the parts of the canvas where you don't want stars. You can use a piece of paper to cover the bottom portion of the sunset while you splatter paint to create the effect of stars in the sky.
Feel free to add your own creative touches, like including shells, starfish, or even a jumping dolphin to make your beach sunset painting truly unique!
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Frequently asked questions
To capture the vibrant beauty of a sunset, use a combination of ultramarine blue, fluorescent pink, cadmium red medium hue, and cadmium yellow medium hue. You can also use red, orange, yellow, bluegrass green, and white.
Using a flat brush, paint the sky with horizontal back-and-forth strokes. Start with blue at the top of the canvas, about 1 inch down from the top. Without cleaning the brush, pick up some fluorescent pink paint and paint another inch below. You can also use Prussian Blue and Blue Cobalt Hue, adding more of the latter as you descend the canvas.
To create the ocean, add Wicker White to the Blue Cobalt Hue as you get closer to the beach. For the sand, use a small round brush to paint two thin black lines from the bottom left corner towards the middle—these are your palm tree stumps. Add 5-7 thin curved lines at the top of each stump for the fronds. Thicken the bottom of the stump and gradually thin it out towards the top.
To add texture, load a scruffy brush with Linen and Wicker White and pounce it up and down over the beach for a mottled look. You can also add sand to the wet paint. To create the sun, use a mix of Wicker White and Moon Yellow, adding more white to make it brighter. You can smudge the edges to create a shimmering effect.
