How To Paint Water

10 Amazing (and Easy!) Tutorials

Introduction

As a child, I, like many others, would paint water with different shades of blue. However, over the years, I’ve come to understand how blue isn’t the only option, and how to paint water in a more realistic manner. Of course, I didn’t learn all this by myself. I’ve searched far and wide for tutorials that could help in this regard, and fortunately, I came across some amazing ones.

To paint water, you must try to maintain three unique steps. First, you start by identifying the type of water body that you’re painting. Different water bodies need to be approached differently. Next, you paint the water body by maintaining a fixed source of light, and using the right shades. Finally, you add depth to your painting by using darker shades. And there you go! Your painting is ready.

Tutorial Number 1 Drawing Wars

Surreal Ocean Water Painting

Surreal Ocean Water Painting

Oceans are the largest water bodies known to mankind. While painting the water in an ocean, make sure you’re adding in a few waves to make it look realistic. For reference, you can go through this amazing tutorial where the artist guides you through the process of drawing ocean water. This painting has everything you need in order to create the perfect painting. Focus more on the shades in this artwork than the lighting effects, and you’ll be good to go.

Tutorial Number 2 Drawing Wars

Perfect Painting of a Water Surface

Perfect Painting of a Water Surface

As a kid, we’d all, more or less, go crazy with blue colors while painting a water surface. However, as we’ve matured over the years, we now think of better approaches while painting water surfaces. Of course, it’s a bit difficult to decide on an approach by ourselves, which is why this tutorial, that shows you how to paint a water surface, can be so useful. From applying the various shades, to ensuring proper lighting, this tutorial will be of great help to you.

Tutorial Number 3 Drawing Wars

Painting Sunlight on Water

Painting Sunlight on Water

This tutorial is the perfect way for you to learn how to add lighting effects on a water surface. Here, you’ll get to explore the effect of sunlight on water, and how it reflects the light and gives the water surface a shiny look. The details are all there in this video tutorial. Make sure you’re paying attention while the artist is adding in all those details. Focus on the coloring and use of lighter shades for this particular painting.

Tutorial Number 4 Drawing Wars

Easy Way to Paint Ocean Water

Easy Way to Paint Ocean Water

Debbie’s approach to painting ocean water is a simple yet remarkable one. She doesn’t bother playing with the painting’s light or depth. Instead, she focuses mostly on the color shades of the water surface, and a few details on those waves. Debbie here tries to bring the water’s transparency into view with her skillful coloring techniques. This tutorial is truly engaging as well as intriguing for the audience to experience.

Tutorial Number 5 Drawing Wars

Realistic Tropical Water Painting

Realistic Tropical Water Painting

In order to make a water painting look realistic, you need to bring in all the effects and elements that you’d see over an actual body of water. This tutorial does an excellent job in doing just that. It focuses heavily on the idea of how tropical waters look under sunlight, and how the surface of the water prominently reflects the light. In a way, this is one of the most realistic paintings I’ve ever laid my eyes on.

Tutorial Number 6 Drawing Wars

Sparkling Water Surface

Sparkling Water Surface

This tutorial is all about water’s ability to reflect light, and look all sparkly in the process. The artist does an excellent job in adding depth to the painting with the help of accurate color shades. On top of that, the way he does an amazing job in bringing out the sparkling effect using lighter color shades, including the color white. All in all, it’s not that difficult of a process, but may require you to hone your shading abilities first.

Tutorial Number 7 Drawing Wars

Beautiful Painting of a Seascape

Beautiful Painting of a Seascape

This video shows the process that goes behind the painting of a calm sea. The seascape painting here is quite beautiful and surreal. It’s as if someone had managed to get the sea to stand still, and then took a picture of that scene. This painting heavily uses the color blue, but not as the color of the water, but rather to indicate the reflection of the open blue skies above it.

Tutorial Number 8 Drawing Wars

Watercolor Painting of a Calm Ocean

Watercolor Painting of a Calm Ocean

This painting is all about the calmness and serenity of the ocean. It uses a lighter color palette to instigate that feeling of calmness. There aren’t many waves in the ocean of this painting either. It’s a blissful and serene scene, where one might actual find peace if the seek it. All this aside, the painting as well as the tutorial is quite easy to understand. There isn’t much going on in terms of depth or details, making it ideal for beginners to try out.

Tutorial Number 9 Drawing Wars

Realistic Painting of Seawater

Realistic Painting of Seawater

This painting right here is all about depth and details. Take a look at the painting below and see for yourself. You can even feel the drops of water in the painting, that’s how detailed it is. Painting something like this will take you a lot of practice. But in order to perfect it, you need to pay attention to the process, especially on the parts where the artist uses the variation in colors and shades to add depth to the painting.

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Tutorial Number 10 Drawing Wars

Painting a Realistic Water Surface

Painting a Realistic Water Surface

In this video tutorial, you’ll get to experience how depth and lighting can influence a painting, and make it look realistic. Upon taking a closer look at the painting or the tutorial, you’ll notice how fixing the source of light in your painting is also a crucial thing to do. All in all, this tutorial is on a level of its own, and is indeed quite helpful, even if you’re unable to paint the actual thing. The main teaching from this tutorial should be how light and depth can be used to create such realistic paintings.

Jimena & Iñigo Picture

By Jimena & Iñigo

The Navarro-Rubios

My husband and I are learning how to draw and paint. We wanted to share this learning process with the world and have fun! That's why we created this blog. We'll have drawing contests every week and you'll decide who won that week! Follow along and learn with us!

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Jimena & Iñigo Picture

Jimena & Iñigo

The Navarro-Rubios

My husband and I are learning how to draw and paint. We wanted to share this learning process with the world and have fun! That's why we created this blog. We'll have drawing contests every week and you'll decide who won that week! Follow along and learn with us!

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