Sunset at the Beach

My First Attempt at a Landscape

I made a real attempt at my first landscape to improve my skills as an artist. I feel like drawing figures is much easier than landscapes and I'd like to have more detail in all the paintings I attempt to do in the future.

Painting the Sky

When I first started painting this I thought the sky would be the hardest part considering how long I spent on just this section, little did I know what was in store. I didn't realize it when I started and completed this part but not only did I have the wrong paint brushes, since I thought of this as a practice painting I used some more basic paint and tried to cheat on some colors I didn't have and thought I could blend myself.

I guess the good thing I learned here was that I can blend a lot better, that was actually the most frustrating part. Recreating the colors once I ran out or took a break was not fun but I got a lot better then it wasn't so bad.

The Horizon

This was the easiest part of the whole painting and the least fun. Not much to say about this part!

The Waves

I thought this was going to be an easy part but it ended up being the hardest of them all and where I spent the most time. The big thing I learned here was that I needed better brushes. I had a really busy day today so I tried to attempt going with what I had and I realized it just made it more challenging than it had to be.

Waves Part 2

When I painted this I followed a long few artists and their technique so I didn't completely copy a video/painting. What I noticed was how much different their strokes were than mine. I realized that I was drawing on a smaller frame and needed smaller versions of the brushes they had. I tried to make due with what I had but at this point I had to go to Micheals.

Final Painting

Everything from the last photo to this final version was when I had all the right types of paints and brushes. It was so much easier once I bought the right stuff! Plus I think it looks a lot better and more realistic at the end. I'm not going to attempt the same painting again because that would be boring, but next time I do waves, I think I'll be ready and they'll look a lot different.

The Lesson

I learned that painting is a lot more fun than video games, especially since I now have a decent Christmas present to give someone I love. I look forward to many more paintings to come, I spent a ton of money on supplies and bought all top quality stuff. I'm excited about improving and the next landscape I do, but I'm going to keep making practice attempts before I waste some more expensive canvases I bought.

Eventually my house is going to be full of my own work and when people come over they'll ask who painted that, and I'll be proud to say it was me!

That's all folks, thanks for stopping by

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Sources

*My Paintings

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