Surf's Up! Wave in watercolor

Hawaii is known for its waves...and after being out in them for a little while, I needed something calm and relaxing to do for a while so I could drain the salt water and sand out of my ears. Time to paint of course.

Maui Sunset, watercolor

One of our vacation routines that my wife and I have gotten into is finding a spot near the beach each evening to watch the sunset. We end up taking endless photos trying to capture the colors as they constantly change. I don't think we have seen a sunset with a clear sky yet, but the clouds just add to the uniqueness, beauty, and the colors even after the sun has gone below the horizon.

Here is my attempt at capturing the sunset in watercolor. As beautiful as this is, I don't think I have captured the brilliance of the colors yet.

Maui coast in Kihei, watercolor

I've been busy vacationing in Maui...seems like an oxymoron, but the way that I want to see everything there is to see, maybe it's not.  I've slowed down a little this week and had time to get my paints out. This painting was done from a picture that I had taken a couple of days before and now I'm just relaxing on the lanai of the house we are staying at, and painting.

Natural Bridges, watercolor

Another seascape inspired from my Santa Cruz vacation back in June. This was done from a photograph I had taken and done completely in my studio. With each one of these seascapes, I feel I get a better grasp of the waves. I have to really think ahead where to leave my whites. I was also trying to capture the reflection of the rock in the wet sand.

Lighthouse revisited

So after letting this sit for a while, I decided I needed to lighten the lighthouse in my Santa Cruz seascape. I lifted the black with a wet brush, scrubbing it the best I could without overworking the paper. I added some pops of green to the lighthouse, which was the color actually in my reference photo but too washed out by the light to see(as cameras do) but I had other shots of the lighthouse from other angles. Green is also the complimentary color to the red in the sail. Then to balance the color out I added green to the rocks, giving it a mossy look! I still need to work on subjects that are backlit, but for now, I think this is finished!

Lighthouse detail - the green is still hard to see because of the photo

Revised

Original

Santa Cruz seascapes in watercolor

So here is the watercolor of my lighthouse sketch. I added the sailboat to add some interest to the right side of the painting.  I really like the effect I got with the marine layer (payne's grey) and the blue sky. I simplified the waves, and darken the lighthouse...maybe a little too dark.  

Some watercolor painters it's tell me they work on more than one plaiting at a time. So while waiting for one to dry, they work on the next. As I worked on my second Santa Cruz inspired painting, I realized that in order for painting more than one painting at a time to be effective, they need to have similar palettes. I kept having to completely rinse off each brush.

 This second seascape was done from a photo I had taken. I needed to crop more of the foreground out.  On this painting I tried to put more focus on the waves.

Santa Cruz lighthouse in pencil

It's been a while since I have painted due to crazy schedules, so with some free time, I find myself at the beach.  The only time I painted a seascape was a couple of years ages with a Watercolor of Sea and Sky and that was from a photo. As I am sitting on the beach, I decide that a pencil sketch is going to work better than a watercolor due to the sand getting all over everything.
 The morning sun was shining from behind the lighthouse, just starting to burn through the marine layer. The waves are a particular challenge, and how can I differentiate between blue sky and grey clouds when I just have a pencil? I will need to redo this in watercolor...