#OCEAN REFLECTION PAINTING HOW TO#

The way you paint reflections water can help to show what the weather is like and is one of the ways to tell a story with your painting. These types of reflection are easy also, I think, because there is quite a bit of guesswork going on. The face of the small waves, or vertical surfaces, are showing what is beneath the surface. The reflection is only seen on the horizontal surface of the water. when it is really windy or choppy then we can only see snippets of the reflection. When there is a lot of movement in the water, i.e. When there is a light breeze across the surface of water, reflections can look a little pixelated or, if there is a gust of wind, it may erase the reflection completely in just a small area, as in my painting of the Swan River in Perth.

#OCEAN REFLECTION PAINTING HOW TO#

So I guess what I am trying to say is that, by putting yourself in the scene, thinking about what is going on and the knock-on effects, it helps you to decide how to tackle the subject matter at hand. You can see in my painting of Venice that, although there is still no wind, there is quite a lot of movement on the water because of the large amount of boat traffic causing wakes that reflect off of the surrounding buildings. The more movement there is in the water, the greater the distortion. This is because on water, flat horizontal surfaces reflect what is above and in this case, what is above is the sky. You will notice in the example below that apart from the reflection of the boat, the surface of the water is actually the same colour as the sky. You can have a bit of fun here with some squiggly lines.įor me, this is the easiest type of reflection to paint because the distortions allow for a certain margin of error. In this case, the reflection will also be a mirror image, but with a few distortions. CurrentsĮven a very still day, there can be movement in the water from currents, swell or tides such as in the photos below. Moving waterĪs soon as there is movement in the water the reflection will start to look a little distorted, pixelated or even disappear completely. That way you have got another reference to work from. If you are cropping off the top of the scene to create a more pleasing composition, such as in the photo below, make sure to take some extra photos of the scenery that has been cut out but is still showing in the water. This will create a mirror image of the scenery above the waterline which you can use to give you a really clear idea of what exactly should be shown in the reflection. So, another thing you can do, thanks to the marvels of modern technology, is to flip your photo horizontally with your device’s photo-editing software.

Sometimes, even when using this upside-down method, it can still be difficult to picture in your head exactly what should be in the reflection. That’s why I recommend painting from photos (preferably your own) to get the best results. If you are copying from another painting then you are going to be limited by the ability of the original creator of the artwork. will be facing in the opposite direction so you will need to turn the photo you are working from upside down as well to get the correct reference.

Of course, as it is a mirror image, whatever your subject is. Along the way I like to check that I have got the proportions correct by measuring with a ruler to make sure each object extends that same distance above the waterline as below. Then I turn the canvas upside down and try to repeat the same thing exactly. I always like to start with the easiest bit, so first I paint in the trees, boats, buildings or whatever your subject is that is above the waterline. The bridge is reflected as a mirror image This can make it easier to paint in some ways but also more difficult in others because there is not much room for error. When the water and the wind are both perfectly still then the reflection will basically be a mirror image. The main ones are movement and viewing angle. However, when painting reflections on horizontal surfaces, there are additional things I like to consider. My golden rule for painting water is that horizontal surfaces reflect what is above and vertical surfaces show what is beneath. I believe that when you examine the reasons why things appear the way they do, it makes it easier to recreate them on canvas and, more importantly, to remember how you did it so you can do it again and again. So today I want to share with you the techniques and also the thought processes I use to tackle painting reflections on water. It is no wonder that many painters struggle in this area. As with most subjects, especially when painting from nature, there are many variables to consider and there is no one right answer because reflections can look different every time.

Painting Reflections on Water in AcrylicsĪ lot of people ask for help when painting reflections on water.

Ocean reflection painting