HOW TO PAINT A SUNSET and BEACH in HAWAII

Learn to paint a beautiful sunset and beach inspired by the islands of Hawaii. Come travel to Hawaii with me and learn how to paint a sunset over the ocean, in this step by step video using acrylic paints. Then come see what we did on the Big Island!

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There are so many beautiful beaches in Hawaii. It was difficult to choose just one to paint, until we were playing at beach 69 on the Big Island watching the sunset, and I knew that I wanted to paint this scene. How could I not? With the sun rays coming behind these purple clouds with the palm trees stretching out into the ocean, and the glow on the water and sand. Just a gorgeous sight to behold. We had so much fun in this spot, snorkeling, swinging on the ropes, riding the waves, and tanning our white bodies. It was wonderful memories here, a great vacation. So this one is called "A Vacation," and now I can enjoy the memory of this place every day. You can watch recommended places and things we did on the the Big Island in the video below. 

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Learn How To Paint & Travel to Hawaii

As mentioned in the video:

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Here are the acrylic supplies I used. See video and description for when I use the supplies and how. 


STEPS TO PAINTING THIS SEASCAPE

Step 1. Paint the composition. Tip #1: Use grey paint and a small flat brush. Tip #2: Use a reference photo to help you. 

Step 2. Paint the sunset. Start by painting the rays of the sun in light yellow, starring from the center. Let that dry and then add light blue doing the same thing but leaving more yellow in the center. Paint orange under the clouds. Paint the clouds purple, layer colors for a more realistic look. Outline the top of the clouds with dark purple and than add white and gold on the top of it. Keep layer as seen in the video. Add more clouds using purple and orange mix, see photo for reference. Any final touches and changes can be done at the end. 

Step 3. Paint Palm Trees and Land. Start by painting the objects you see in black using a small flat brush, filling in the trees and bushes. Use a small round brush to add detail to it. Add a mix of emerald green and black over the top of your trees in some areas, see reference, to give it a more realistic look as what you would see with your naked eye, not what the camera can only photograph. Make sure the bottom of you land is a horizontal line on the horizon line.

Step 4. Paint Ocean and beach. I paint these together because I will use a lot of the same colors. Start with filling in your ocean area with silver metallic paint. If you don't have this, use grey. The metallic paint just looks really cool, like it is wet. Then mix black and your ultramarine blue together with a little silver to get the dark blue color. Add this to your painting as seen in the video and reference this is where the waves are. The area with dark blue is larger as the wave is closer and the brush strokes get smaller in the distance. Then add brilliant blue with white and a little silver to get the light blue and add waves. This light blue will be throughout all the ocean and even on your beach. Make sure to add it later to where the water is receding on the sand.

Add in your orange where the sunset is reflecting off the water. Now add this same color to the area where the water recedes on the sand. You will want a mix of colors, light blue, orange, yellow, grey and tan to get this effect. Use your reference photo and layer thinly to get the desired look. 

For the beach I used copper and grey to fill it in. My final brush strokes go the direction of how the water recedes back from the waves. I can say how crucial layers are at this point. You don't want it to look blocky. Use a glazing technique to add the blue where the water meets the sand. To do this add a lot of water to your brush. Add in the rocks with black. Yay! Your close to being done. 

Step 5. Final details. This is the step where you need to look back and see if you need to change anything. My final touches I calmed down the sun rays, added a few rocks to create balance, added more details to the waves, softened the waves in the distance by using a dry brush and blending without paint. I also added my signature. Thanks for painting with me! 

Watch the video to get more details and be sure to subscribe to get notified when I post my next painting video!

Take Care, 
Ashley Krieger

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