How to Paint Water and Reflections.
Paint water to look like a mirror.
You can use this techniques to paint reflections in oil paint or acrylic.
Learn to paint water and reflections that look like glass with this very simple and straight forward method.
You must follow a few rules.
Let’s say you are painting water which is on a fine day with blue sky above.
Best to paint the water in before you paint the banks.
Undercoat the whole water area with white and use plenty of paint.
Blend your blue into the white from the bottom up while your white undercoat is still wet.
This is the reflection of the sky dark blue at the bottom and white in the distance.
Paint the banks and reflections over the white to blue water.
Keep a large area of water in the distance ‘pure white’ this is important.
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 for you 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 edge but only on the banks that are across the water from you.
Place white ripples horizontally over the water
these can be close together in the distance and apart when close. View now this short tutorial video showing how to paint water and reflections in acrylic or oils.
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.
Great simple good