Acrylics are a fantastic choice of paints if you’re thinking of painting a seascape. They are water-based which means they can be mixed with other water-based paints such as vinyl matt emulsion. This is a great advantage for painting seascapes. It means that there’s more choice for choosing shades of blue, green and grey for the tones of the sea. The match pot size is adequate if you’re experimenting, and colours can also be watered down. As acrylics are very vibrant, mixing with an emulsion shade in a paler tone, will work wonders. Choose your materials and gather them together. You’ll need: polyfilla or an equal mix of acrylic heavy gel and modelling paste for texture (optional) and a spatula for spreading Canvas (block canvas is good) canvas board, heavy-duty watercolour paper or wood Masking tape and a ruler A large jar of water for keeping your brushes in Several clean, white washing –up cloths Brushes and perhaps a palette knife Lots of kitchen roll Photographs if you refer to them You can buy ready-primed canvases or prime them with gesso. Gesso makes the surface a little stiffer. It prevents paint from soaking into the canvas or paper and it gives the surface a little more texture so the paint sticks better. I love lots of texture, so I take some ready-mixed polyfilla and I water it down so it’s not so thick. It's economical to use this, but you can always mix acrylic heavy gel and acrylic modelling paste in equal amounts. First of all you need to measure the horizon. With a ruler measure down from the top of the canvas where the horizon will be. With a watercolour pencil draw your horizon. Place a strip of masking tape along it and round the sides with the top of the strip on the horizon line. If using block canvas the sides need painting too. With a spatula, spread some polyfilla at various places in the sky section and blend and spread to give the impression of cloud formations. Any mountains or land can also be added with polyfilla in places. When dry move the masking tape so the the bottom edge is on the horizon and apply polyfilla to the sea to give the impression of movement or depth. It only needs to be applied in places. Gather all your paints and brushes together and have some plastic lids or containers to mix your paints on. As the paint dries really quickly (within 15 minutes or so), don’t be tempted to put out too much paint. You can always add more. If you’re using photographs study them and look at the cloud formation, the colours of the sky, the sea etc. Sometimes the horizon is darker, sometimes it is lighter. If you’re looking at the sea where it’s deeper at the bottom of the painting, it will be darker in tone. Each scene is different, so check how the tones will look on your painting. To paint the sky position your masking tape across the horizon so that the top edge of it is touching the horizon. The trick is to build up the paint gradually and thinly to start with because it is easier to add paint than to take it off. As some of the canvas texture is still exposed, when it is given a light wash or coat of paint, the texture as well as the thicker texture of polyfilla will give interest. The sky is going to be paler at the horizon getting deeper the higher it is. Choose your colours and now begin to add the paint to the canvas. As it will dry quickly, the next stage has to be done quickly. Take a cloth and wet it then squeeze out all the water. Blending is the key here. Start at the horizon and put a generous amount of paint on the canvas with a 1in or 2in brush and blend across the canvas left to right. You can blend two or more colours as you go. Make sure the coverage is light as the intention is to leave the texture of the canvas in places. If the paint is drying too quickly for you, add some more water to your cloth. If you need to add more paint as you go along, do so and keep blending in with your cloth. Remember to paint the sides and top of the canvas and that they correspond to the front. Add deeper colours in places and keep blending until you get the desired effect. Paint in your land or mountains on the horizon, if you have any. When dry, re-position the masking tape so the bottom of it is on the horizon line and the sea is exposed. Choose the colours for your sea and with a wide brush (a decorating brush is fine if it doesn’t moult) put generous amounts of several tones in various places in the sea area. Don’t be shy because this next part has to be done really quickly. With a clean wet cloth and a left-to-right motion, blend your colours across the canvas and wetting your cloth more if the paint seems too dense. Follow the movement of the waves as you go. The texture of the polyfilla will provide delicious movement. Remember it’s better to add paint than to have to take it off. If you make mistakes it doesn’t matter. It’s possible to take a dry brush with the smallest amount of paint, and sweep over a dry section afterwards with a contrasting colour to highlight the texture of the canvas. Acrylic seascapes look really effective.
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Stella Coles is an artist who mainly paints with acrylics or pastels. There's so much beauty around us that we can capture onto canvas. To get some ideas visit: Landscape Art By Stella