How to Paint Seascapes.

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To show you how to paint seascapes, I'm going to show you some different types of seascapes by various artists. I picked these examples because they have varying styles and are expressive. I think you'll like them.

Contents:

• Franz A Bischoff
• Thomas Cole
• Frederic Church
• Turner

Franz A. Bischoff:

When learning how to paint seascapes, it helps to look at some different examples to get ideas. There are many ways to paint a seascape.

Let's take a look at a few works by Bischoff. They are expressive and colorful.

Notice the blues, purples, and other expressive colors he uses. You'll see both green and blue as well as other colors in the ocean as well.

Here is another one.

Notice the expressive brushstrokes. The waves don't show much detail but still show action. This is a good example of impressionism. Also notice the use of warm and cool colors. In the sunsets, you will see lots more colors than during the day.

Here is another.

Look at the strong yellows, oranges, and red. There is hardly any blue in the water at all. Be expressive with your colors. Have fun.

When learning how to paint seascapes, try copying a few of these paintings yourself. Doing master copies is a great way to learn. It also frees your mind from having to "make" a painting from a photograph.

Thomas Cole:

As a Hudson River School painter, Cole did lots of landscapes. He has a few seascapes as well.

Here is an example of one of his works so you can see a different approach on how to paint seascapes.

Look at the overall green and red/orange color scheme. There is some faint blue in the sky, but the water is overall green.

Also you can really feel the wind in the white highlights of the waves. To get wind and waves, look for the angles and shapes carefully. Look at the direction and steepness.

Notice how the clouds and water get lighter as they go into the distance giving a nice sense of depth.

Frederic Church:

Since this article is just about learning how to paint seascapes, I wanted to show you a good number of paintings that look really nice. Feel free to look for more examples by other artists.

These are by Church.

This one is a bit more traditional. Notice how that even with all the chaos in the foreground with the waves, the boats in the background still get your attention. Any "man-made" object will stand out amongst a sea of natural elements.

Also, the colors in this piece are very muted. The blue is more of a blue-gray. There are some subtle hints of pink, purple, and green here and there as well.

Here is another:

This one is almost at night. Look at how dark the water gets. Look at the bright warm colors in the sky. The water is almost devoid of any color at all.

The "lighting" will always change values and colors quite a bit.

Okay, one more artist.

Turner:

Turner is best know for his expressive and impressionistic seascapes.

I posted this one so you can get an idea of what you can get away with. The painting is almost all abstract except for a few details.

The colors are muted for the most part in this example. Never feel like you must use bright blue for the water or sky. Notice how the stormy waves and clouds draw your eye into the boat. You can use skies, rocks, and waves to lure you into a particular part of the painting if you want.

So, by now you should have some ideas on how to paint seascapes. I didn't go over any actual painting techniques, but you can watch my Sargent Painting Video to get an idea of the overall process. It can easily be applied to seascapes.

Read articles related to: How to Paint Seascapes.

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