MY PROCESS: HOW I PAINTED UNDERWATER WAVE
THIS VIDEO REVEALS SOME OF THE WATERCOLOR TECHNIQUES I USED TO PAINT MY THE VIDEO
Have you ever wondered what it would look like to see a wave break underwater? That question intrigued me so I decided to paint an underwater wave. The first step was visual Looking at underwater photos of waves for images that interested me . I found several images of waves breaking over coral reefs from different angles before deciding on the composition I chose.
One of the visual devices I like to incorporate into my paintings is to emphasize depth in a painting. By using atmospheric perspective, I can achieve the feeling of depth. In my current painting I use brighter, more saturated colors in the foreground and gradually fade them and increase the blue tint until it’s the dominant color in the deep background. The amount of detail also drops off towards the background.
The turbulence of the wave breaking I rendered in purples and pinks in several washes of color. Using watercolor allows me to evaluate the emerging painting by letting the paint surface dry before adding another wash. By using this process, I can apply color to the painting in loose strokes, wet on wet to let the colors bleed on the paper, thus capturing the random turbulence. The swirling patterns that emerged from all the washes depict the backside of the wave as a roiling column. The sediments of kicked up from the reef by the breaking wave form an aqua cloud partially obscuring the reef below.
The spray-like pattern formed by the lip of the wave was rendered using transparent washes of purple, pink, aqua, and blue, over which came opaque streaks and points of white. Where the surface of the wave above light blurs out to pure white, I simply left unpainted, later applying white streaks and dots. once everything was laid out according to the composition I wanted I evaluated the painting for consistency and detail, adding changes as I edited.
The video shown demonstrates several of the techniques I employ in my paintings, I hope you enjoy watching . I will be happy to answer any questions you may regarding my process, and please leave comments , let me know what you think!
