Reference Photo for Watercolor Painting
Fig 1: Sand Dunes, Fingal Bay, Port Stephens, NSW
Required Materials
Arches 300gsm Rough or Cold Press Watercolour Paper
Brushes: Sizes 24 and 16 for larger washes and 12 and 10 for the smaller areas and detail.
Paints: All Winsor and Newton – Cobalt Blue, Raw Umber, Burnt Sienna, Cobalt Blue Turquoise, Aureolin
Backing board, masking tape, old towel to control wetness of your brushes, etc
Step One
Do a loose drawing of the scene. The key area is the line at the top of the sand dunes and a general indication of areas in shadow and sunlight.
Once this is done mix some cobalt blue with lots of water, the consistency should be about the strength of a weak tea
With your board tilted to about 25 degrees paint the sky area down to the top of the sand dunes. Then add more water to your mix of cobalt blue and paint a light wash of cobalt blue down below the top of the sand dunes as in figure 2.
It is very important to leave the light parts of the paper below untouched by the Cobalt Blue mixture.
Leave this to dry thoroughly!
Fig 2: Drawing and initial under wash
Continue to: How to Paint Sand Dunes with Watercolor -Step Two