Painting the ocean can be a relaxing hobby.
The ocean makes an enjoyable subject for oil paintings. Whether you want to paint a calm ocean scene or depict the often-violent nature of a stormy sea, capturing an ocean in oil can be enjoyable and relaxing, and the finished painting will make a fine decorative piece for any room in your home -- or even a gift for family or friends. Using a few simple colors and some classic blending techniques, you can create an ocean oil painting to be proud of.
Instructions
1. Sketch your scene on canvas with a pencil. Don't worry about the details -- you need a rough guide that will show you how you're going to fill your space. Determine what you want in the scene. You may have some of the shore, or you might choose to focus more on the ocean and the distant skyline. What you choose will depend on the type of ocean painting you want to create.
2. Paint light undertones of oil paint on all areas of your painting to provide a foundation upon which to build. Use a light blue oil paint along the sky line and over the water, a light shade of gray oil paint over rocks if you have them in the composition, and white oil paint around the edge of the water. Applying this undertone will add support to the colors you apply later as you build your oils onto the canvas.
3. Layer on darker surface colors to bring out the depth of the painting. Apply the paint with short brush strokes or curved strokes that allow the bristles of the brush to produce some texture. Paint darker colors over your lighter colors after the lighter colors have dried. For the water, use alternating applications of blue and teal to give your water tonal variation.
4. Add touches of dark red throughout the water to deepen the color. Where your waves break, add another darker layer of teal and blue, with touches of gray or black to bring out shadow and to help create the swell of the waves.
5. Sponge the white around the tips of the waves to create a foamy effect. Apply two or three layers of white to build up the definition of the waves, and then sponge again to bring out more foam.
