Sea & Sky in Acrylics: Techniques & Inspiration
By Dave White
5/5
()
About this ebook
Painting teacher Dave White introduces the simple but effective techniques that he uses to paint stunning, dramatic seascapes with beautiful and realistic skies. He demonstrates spattering, blending backgrounds, painting horizons, finger painting clouds and foam. There is expert advice on the anatomy of waves and how they rise and collapse, creating ripples, surf, foam, and spray.
In addition, clear instructions show how to paint effective reflections and beaches to improve your seascapes. The sky section shows effective techniques for painting all types of cloud, with some innovative methods such as tipping up the surface to let dilute paint run, to create cirrus clouds. Dave’s method of creating depth in sea, beach, and sky using lines projected from the vanishing point can radically improve your seascapes.
You’ll also find a section on moods and sunsets, full of beautiful, dramatic examples. Finally, three step-by-step projects show how to paint a beach panorama with a rolling wave, a spectacular sunset over a calm sea, and waves crashing on rocks.
Dave White
Dave White is the Shamus Award Nominated author of the Jackson Donne series and thriller WITNESS TO DEATH, available from Polis Books. He has been nominated for multiple awards for both his novels and short stories. In his spare time, he's a middle school teacher.
Read more from Dave White
Monster Trucks (Hot Wheels) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Shark Attack (Hot Wheels) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dino Racing (Hot Wheels) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Off Roading (Hot Wheels) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Street Heat (Hot Wheels) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cave Race (Hot Wheels) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Race the World (Hot Wheels) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Volcano Blast (Hot Wheels) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Double Duel (Hot Wheels) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dino Attack (Hot Wheels) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related to Sea & Sky in Acrylics
Related ebooks
Painting Water in Watercolour Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Coastal Landscapes Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5David Bellamy's Seas & Shorelines in Watercolour Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5101 Top Techniques for Artists: Step-by-step art projects from over a hundred international artists Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Painting Perspective, Depth & Distance in Watercolour Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Landscapes in Oils Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Acrylics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Painting Successful Watercolours from Photographs Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Painting Made Easy: A Professional Guide For Every Artist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Textured Art: Palette knife and impasto painting techniques in acrylic Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pastels for the Absolute Beginner Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Quick & Clever Acrylics Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Take Three Colours: Watercolour Landscapes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5People Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Jackie Shaw's Learn to Paint Flowers: A Step-by-Step Approach to Beautiful Results Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mastering Color: The Essentials of Color Illustrated with Oils Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Watercolor: You Can Do It!: From Concept to Finished Painting Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Watercolour Textures Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anyone Can Paint: Create sensational art in oils, acrylics, and watercolours Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Fundamentals of Watercolour Landscapes: Paintings for all seasons Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Complete Artist’s Manual: The Definitive Guide to Materials and Techniques for Painting and Drawing Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Painting Trees and Landscapes in Watercolor Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Painting Flowers in Watercolour Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Watercolor: Realistic Painting Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Secrets of Watercolour Success Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Fundamentals of Watercolour Painting: A Complete Course in Techniques, Subjects and Styles Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPaint 50 Landscapes: A complete guide to painting landscapes and seascapes in watercolour Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Paint with Watercolor Pencils Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5
Art For You
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All About Love: New Visions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everything Is F*cked: A Book About Hope Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Erotic Photography 120 illustrations Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Alchemist: A Graphic Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Complete Papyrus of Ani Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Art Models 10: Photos for Figure Drawing, Painting, and Sculpting Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Writing to Learn: How to Write - and Think - Clearly About Any Subject at All Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Art 101: From Vincent van Gogh to Andy Warhol, Key People, Ideas, and Moments in the History of Art Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5And The Mountains Echoed Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tao Te Ching: A New English Version Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Shape of Ideas: An Illustrated Exploration of Creativity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Draw Like an Artist: 100 Flowers and Plants Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shakespeare: The World as Stage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Electric State Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Just Kids: An Autobiography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Draw and Paint Anatomy, All New 2nd Edition: Creating Lifelike Humans and Realistic Animals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Not My Father's Son: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Designer's Dictionary of Color Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for Sea & Sky in Acrylics
5 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Sea & Sky in Acrylics - Dave White
Introduction
If I want to relax in my painting, this is the subject I enjoy the most. The sea and sky create a language common to us all, wherever we are in the world. These are the things in life which make us feel infinitesimally small, while at the same time reminding us of being on holiday! The sea and sky are always moving and changing and they generate a fascination that you could take a lifetime trying to capture in painting and probably only get a step along the way.
This book shares with you what I have found on my short artistic journey so far; some of the essential elements of capturing a seascape. It seeks to provide an understanding that will allow you to create an image that is instantly recognisable as a depiction of the sea and sky. It then shows you how to get a sense of movement into these paintings.
The places I have used in the illustrations and demonstrations are those that I know, so they are local to me, and yet are potentially universal. I happen to live just up the road from where British maritime artist, Montague Dawson, created his wondrous seascapes, so we are in good company. My hope is that you will apply the learning in this book to create your own images of the locations that you know and love.
Acrylics are my medium of choice; they are versatile, healthy and quick and there is very little waste. I have used two major acrylic ranges in creating all the images: one by Dayler Rowney and one by Winsor & Newton. They illustrate the subtly different properties in various ranges of acrylics, but both are favourites of mine. I discuss the main differences so that when purchasing your acrylics, you can look for the properties you prefer.
Finally, thank you for buying this book! I hope you will enjoy and be inspired by this journey and that it will lead you to an even longer expedition into the fascinating subject of sea and sky painting. I will finish with a quote from my favourite film The Hunt for Red October, spoken by Sean Connery as the submarine captain: ‘And the sea will grant each man new hope, as sleep brings dreams of home.’ May your painting hopes be fulfilled and your artistic dreams come true!
The Sky Will Be Darkened
51 x 40.7 cm (20 x 16in)
This was a quick paint sketch of a squall approaching during what had been quite
a nice day. See pages 70–71 for the final version.
Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad, let the sea resound and all that is in it.’ Psalm 96
Materials
If you are an experienced acrylic painter, you will probably already have many materials, but if you are just starting out, the objective of the following descriptions is to save you money, so please read carefully!
Paints
Acrylic paints are available in student quality and artist quality and some are more expensive than others. My advice is to find and stick to a brand that is well supported by its manufacturer, with sufficient information about what’s in the tube or pot, so that the artist is in no doubt about the property of the paint. By ‘property’ I mean in particular whether the paint is opaque, semi-transparent or transparent, which will tell you whether it is useful for underpainting or glazing; whether the finish is matt or gloss, satin or silk; and also how much the colour changes from wet to dry.
You do not need a huge selection of colours but I would suggest, as a minimum:
• A warm and cold blue, e.g. ultramarine and phthalo or Prussian blue.
• A warm and cold red, e.g. cadmium scarlet and alizarin crimson or cadmium red deep.
• A warm and cold yellow, e.g. cadmium yellow and lemon yellow.
• Add Mars black, a large tube of titanium white, Hooker’s or phthalo green, yellow ochre and burnt sienna, and from this selection you can mix a huge number of colours with many tints and shades.
For the demonstrations in this book I used a Daler Rowney range and a box set of twelve Winsor & Newton tubes, which include most of the colours mentioned above. You will always find that you need more titanium white and hence the recommendation for a large tube. Unfortunately there is no perfect, complete set of paints (the manufacturers always leave a crucial one out) so check carefully against the list above when buying a set.
Bear in mind that paint manufacturers update their paints over time, so I have not referred to specific ranges by name, to avoid the information becoming out of date.
Brushes
I am a Professional Associate member of the Society for All Artists (SAA) in the UK and I use their Silver synthetic watercolour brushes to do most of my acrylic work. If you wash synthetic watercolour brushes under running water and squeeze the acrylic paint from the ferrule until no colour is seen, they will last a long time (my current set lasted seven years, having been used daily). I do not generally like acrylic brushes because their bristles tend to carve into the paint, but I do use them for more textural paintings. I also use the stiffer ones for spattering. For the paintings in this book, I used synthetic watercolour brushes as follows: 5cm (2in), 2.5cm (1in), 13mm (½in) and 6mm (¼in) fl ats; 13mm (½in) and 6mm (¼in) rounds and a rigger. I also used acrylic bristle brushes: 13mm (½in) fl at and no. 10 round for spattering; and painting knives for painting rocks.
Plastic pots
The main complaint that some artists have about acrylics is that they say it dries too quickly. The reason