Do you want to learn how to paint soft, dreamy ocean waves in watercolor? As Kerrilyn Cheah often teaches, capturing the movement of the sea is all about layering, gentle transitions, and understanding how light dances on water.
In this step-by-step tutorial, Kerrilyn Cheah will walk you through her techniques for creating realistic beach waves—foam, splashes, shadows, and more.
Whether you’re a beginner or looking to improve your seascapes, you’ll find helpful tips that bring your ocean scenes to life.
Contents
- 1 Step 1: Prepare the Foam with Masking Fluid
- 2 Step 2: Use Wet-on-Wet to Paint a Soft Ocean Background
- 3 Step 3: Add Foam Shadows and Build Up the Waves
- 4 Step 4: Paint the Beach and Plan a Second Layer of Foam
- 5 Step 5: Create Splash Light Effects with Water Techniques
- 6 Step 6: Reinforce Shadows and Remove Masking Fluid
- 7 Step 7: Final Touches for Depth, Texture, and Highlights
- 8 Wrapping Up
Step 1: Prepare the Foam with Masking Fluid
Before getting into the painting, the artist plans out the foam on the waves. This step makes a big difference later.
To start, masking fluid is applied to the areas where the white foam will be. But here’s a tip from the artist: not all the foam should be covered. Masking fluid is placed only on the brightest highlights.
These areas will stand out the most in the final piece. Once the masking fluid is dry, the painting process can begin.
Step 2: Use Wet-on-Wet to Paint a Soft Ocean Background
Now that the masking fluid is dry, it’s time to paint the base of the ocean. This part sets the tone for the whole painting.
First, a light wash of clean water is brushed over the top part of the foam area. This prepares the paper for the wet-on-wet technique, which creates a soft, dreamy look.
Next, ultramarine blue—one of the artist’s favorite colors for skies and oceans—is applied across the horizon. This creates a beautiful, deep tone for the distant water.
As the brush moves closer to the foam, more water is added to the mix, creating a lighter gradient. This prepares the area for the next color. Keeping this part soft and light makes a big difference in the final look.
Step 3: Add Foam Shadows and Build Up the Waves
Once the base layer is down, it’s time to work on the foam.
Shadows in the foam are painted using ultramarine blue in a lighter mix.
The artist slowly builds up the color, starting with darker shades at the bottom and blending upward with water. This makes the foam feel more dimensional.
Next, marine blue and turquoise blue are mixed together. This blend is applied to the top part of the waves.
A more diluted version of that mix is used on the bottom part of the foam to keep the effect light and airy.
A darker shade is used to paint tiny baby strokes around the foam area to add texture. These strokes are softly blended with water. This technique creates subtle ripples and movement in the water.
The steps are repeated to build up layers and give the waves a realistic feel.
Step 4: Paint the Beach and Plan a Second Layer of Foam
With the sea taking shape, it’s time to move to the beach and plan where the second foam layer will go.
Before painting the sand, the artist decides where the second foam line should be. That area is left empty for now.
The sandy beach is then filled with yellow ochre mixed with lots of water to make a light wash, giving a soft base.
Step 5: Create Splash Light Effects with Water Techniques
Water techniques are used to make realistic splash light effects.
First, the brush is filled with clean water and applied gently over a slightly moist paint area. The surface should be damp but not too wet.
When more water is dropped on top, pigments move and push away, creating natural-looking splashes.
Next, water is loaded again and applied to a new area.
This time, a dry brush is used to remove the excess water. This reactivates the pigment underneath, and when lifted, it creates a soft splash.
For smaller splashes, the brush is pressed onto a flat surface to spread the bristles, then paint is dabbed onto the area using the open bristles.
This helps define splash edges. A darker shade is added around the splash to create contrast and shadows.
Step 6: Reinforce Shadows and Remove Masking Fluid
Shadows along the base of the waves continue to be added, just like earlier. These darker areas enhance contrast and make the water look more dynamic.
The same technique is applied to the top of the foam area. A hair dryer is used to speed up the drying process.
Now it’s time to remove the masking fluid. Once it’s taken off, bright white foam areas appear.
A very light blue wash is applied over those white spots. The goal is to blend just a bit of color around the foam to make it look natural.
Step 7: Final Touches for Depth, Texture, and Highlights
More blue tones are added to the water to increase contrast and depth. Then attention moves down to the beach again.
Using sepia, shadows are painted at the edge of the foam where it meets the sand. These strokes are blended freely for a natural transition.
For extra texture, small blobs of paint are flicked in to give the sandy surface more life. Extra dots may be added in empty areas if needed.
Finally, white gouache is used to dot highlights along the waves to enhance the white splashes. Wet splatters are added for a final touch of movement.
And that completes the beach waves painting.
Wrapping Up
This tutorial shows how beach waves can be painted with watercolor using soft splashes, realistic foam, and peaceful shoreline effects. With simple techniques and relaxed layering, the scene comes together beautifully.
Continued practice will help refine each new watercolor landscape.