For the last week we have been driving along the Northern California and Southern Oregon coast, which is famous for sea stacks. As a sketcher they just call out to be sketched, so I have answered the call – check my upcoming Thursday blog for more of them.
Without a bit of good technique the sketch can turn into just a blob. Here is the finished sketch. I did this on Procreate so I could have a video, but the process is the same on paper.
As usual I start with ink, just major shapes, with a bit of highlight thrown in. Note how the waves look, flat across the top with jagged lines below.
As with most sketchs it is important to not obsess over every detail, it is the shapes that are important.
Next comes the watercolor, watch the video then I will make a few comments.
I usually start with the sky so it can dry before I add ocean – I do the same with mountains or fields.
Next, I painted the rock with a grey-green. Perylene Green is one of my favorites. Thinned down it becomes the silver green of an olive tree, darker it works wonders for distant hills. If you darken it with ultramarine or even black it is good in shadows.
What keeps the rock from becoming just a blob is to emphasize the darks, in some sketches this week I used an almost black paint to make that happen. Squinting while looking at the scene will make the dark areas stand out. Just as important as getting the darks dark, is leaving light areas. So in this painting, there are light, medium, and dark areas on the rock. This is important when painting any object, it is what gives it depth.
As for the ocean, I used the Perylene again with a bit of blue since the water here had a grey-green hue. Leave the foam of the waves white. If you are so inclined you can do a lot to enhance the foam, but for a quick sketch just white works quite well. Note also that I left streaks of white in the foreground, representing foam.
The dark areas in front of the rocks are shadows and just the way water works.
Give it a try, go to the beach if one is near and capture the place. This technique is pretty much the same for a mountain if that is easier to find. Have fun, that is the most important part of all.
