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Writer's pictureTaisiia Danchenko

HOW TO PAINT REFLECTION... ARTISTS TIPS

Dear friends, very often in our art class students are choosing to create a landscape with water surfaces. Of course, we love them optical mirrored colour splashes mesmerizing us. They remind us about childhood time on the beach and the fresh breeze on a hot day.

If you decide to paint a river or a lake, the following tips professional artists use will come in handy.


1. We do underlayer.

Objects and plans in the picture should be located in a way that they do NOT divide the canvas into equal parts(equals look unnatural). Also at the stage of underpainting, we pay attention to the fact that there is no symmetry, only if you do not use it as an artistic technique. Remember about the optical perspective - distant objects in the reflection go down.


2. Painting the sky.

The sky is darker and colder up. Horizontally, it also changes color (warmer and lighter towards the sun) while they are reflecting in the water. The shape of the reflection corresponds to the objects that create it. But you have to be careful not to do it boringly, unnaturally, mechanically.


3. Shore and reflection of trees in the water.

Water, like the sky, has a gradient in color and tone. The rest of the objects that are reflected in the water also have uneven color and tone. Dark objects usually look lighter in water, and light objects look darker, that is, the relationship between objects in the reflection seems to be “converging”.


4. The highlights

​This is the last step. By pitting light strokes of the whites on the tops of the waves we creating a surface of the water and, in contrast, make shadows lie dipper.


​5. Technique

​While we painting the water we remember all the brushstrokes should be Vertical for the reflection and Horizontal for the surface of the water. We work with other directions only if we need to show strong waves. But then you want to be able to see any reflection.


Do you want much more knowledge with Taya? Sign up today for our oil painting classes for adults. Every Tuesday and Thursday night.

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​Art Academica


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