Painting a Nordic Beach
Take your painting from a nice picture to one that tells a Story
When I think about beaches, of course, I think of sea & sand. I see tropical beaches in my mind, lined up with palm trees, meeting bright turquoise waters. Mediterranean beaches, where rocky shores fall into water so clear you see every fish moving inside.
And then there are Nordic beaches. Combining calmness and roughness, meeting us with these opposing components, the Nordic countries seem to embody. The weather and nature are rough, yet they make it so easy to become calm inside.
So when Jonathan and I visited Hanko, Finlands summer hotspot, I needed to paint the beautiful shore.
Hanko has been a celebrated summer vacation spot for centuries. Delicately decorated wooden Villas make your visit feel like time-travelling and create a unique charm. And it’s blessed with this Nordic beauty of nature.
The sea doesn’t scream for attention with bright colors, but invites the eye to wander far to the horizon, flat rock formations and a wide beach framing the scene. This is the Moment I wand to capture - on location and later in my studio.
I always make sure to take enough reference photos. They are the foundation of my future paintings.
Making small Changes
How lovely is this little red cabin by the sea? It’s the perfect protagonist for the painting. But when I was sketching and taking reference photos, it was getting late and the sun was in a spot that left the cabin in shadows.
In my reference photo, the red color almost looks black, or at least a dark gray. But when painting, we can always adjust and make the changes, which will result in a great painting. The little spot of red creates a nice contrast to the cool and calm colors of the sky, sea, and beach.
The European Nordic countries are famous for these red wood cabins. So this little detail lets you know what part of the World you are looking at, if you see my painting.
You see, these details can make a huge difference and take your painting from a beautiful picture to one that tells a Story.
Travel Sketchbook
When we went to Finland, I took my sketchbook with me and a collection of paints, brushes, and pencils. My goal was to experiment with various techniques to capture my experiences. For the beach in Hanko, I made a quick sketch with a fineliner and used pastels to color the scene.
On this trip, I also tried out colored pencils and watercolors and I can say: Watercolor is the best medium to capture your memories. At least in my opinion and if you want to work with color.
A nice pencil sketch will always do, but imagine this seascape without color. With watercolor, it’s easy to mix a lot of different tones, but with pastels or pencils, you need to bring an extra piece for every shade you want to use.
Of course, you can blend the colors of pencils, but it takes a lot of time and layering. With watercolor, you can work quickly and have a great variety of shades, so your painting will look lively.
Just make sure to buy a sketchbook with watercolor paper if you want to use watercolor.
Start your new painting…
Do you search for painting projects, that bring you to far places and tell a story?
Enjoy these beautiful step-by-step paintings. From the best material to color mixing, everything you need is covered.
The best? In the Guide, you’ll find a drawing template you can print and transfer to your watercolor paper.
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Colors Mixing
Step-by-step with pictures & text
printable drawing template
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