How to Paint Water and Reflections.

PAINT WATER AND REFLECTIONS   - Make your water look like glass.
Paint in oil paint or acrylic paint.
With this very simple and straight forward method you will learn how to paint water and reflections that look like glass.
There are a few rules that must be followed.
Let’s say you are painting water which is on a fine day with blue sky above.
Paint the water in before you paint the banks. Undercoat the whole water area with white, (your banks and reflections will be painted over the white to blue water). While your white undercoat is still wet blend your blue into the white from the bottom up. This is the reflection of the sky dark blue at the bottom and white in the distance. Keep a large area of water in the distance ‘pure white’ this is important. The reflections can then be placed over wet or dry paint.

Copy items on the bank, upside down in the water below (reflections come straight down).

No need to copy the items exactly, just have similar items, then with a wide soft brush and while the paint is still wet brush over all the reflections once, straight down, smudging them. The banks can now be painted in place. Have a dark line at the water’s edge but only on the banks that are across the water from you. White ripples may be placed horizontally over the water these can be close together in the distance and apart when close. Remember when painting anything that comes towards you, it gets bigger or wider as it comes near, so your river might be 1 inch wide in the distance and 12 inches wide in the foreground. Try not to curve a river bank towards you this will cause your water to appear to be running up hill. A zig-zaged bank if a better effect.
A short tutorial video showing how to paint water and reflections in acrylic or oils.

Complete training DVDs are available at lenhend.com

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