I love lighthouses endlessly, and even my wedding took place at its top. So I was there and did a lot of sketches of the Maine lighthouses. I plan to draw them all! Lighthouse Portland Head is considered the most amazing and suitable for drawing. It completely changes, depending on the angle of view and the weather. Bright red against a stormy gray sky can look grand!
It is this image that is traditional and everyone recognizes the Portland Lighthouse, whether it was there or not. In fact, this place is hard to imagine as a painting location, as there is practically no foreground (Unless you draw tall grass, of course), the middle line divides the picture, and the red roof stands out against the sky. There is always an incredibly luxurious sky. Magnificent wildlife that still bravely resists all attempts by mankind to tame it and shows him clear disdain.
I really love lighthouses!
Necessary materials
- Arches Rough Press Watercolor Paper 14" x 20"
- Isabey Fine Round Sable Brush No. 14
- Long bristle brush Isabey No. 1
Paints
- (M. Graham transparent watercolors)
- Azo Yellow
- Cadmium Yellow
- Cadmium Red
- Phthalocin Green (Pthalo Green)
- Phthalocin Blue (Pthalo Blue)
- Cobalt Blue
- Ultramarine Blue (Ultramarine Blue)
- Cobalt blue (Cobalt Teal)
- Ultramarine Pink (Ultramarine Pink)
- Sienna burnt (Burnt Sienna)
- White Gouache
Let's start boldly applying a layer of ultramarine blue (ultramarine blue) and cobalt (cobalt) in the sky area. Such a magnificent sky stretches out in this area. I know for sure that several layers of paint will be required here.
In the sea area, add a few strokes of Blue Phthalocin (Pthalo Blue), leaving small gaps on the paper.
I use Pthalo Blue and burnt sienna to create dark areas in a deep crevice under a rock. It is incredibly deep exactly where the water flows, and the color should be deep, but muted dark. The shadow of the rock is of no interest to us!
Now let's get to the fun part of the job! I like to draw endless sky over the ocean!
I take ultramarine blue and mix it with nickel azo yellow and ultramarine pink to tone it down a bit. I need a gray base for cloud shadows. In this base we add a few strokes of three shades and Cobalt blue (Cobalt Teal). This part of the job is easy to handle.
When the work with this layer is almost finished, I blur a few sharp edges on the clouds. Large fluffy clouds actually have sharp edges, but there are also vanishing edges. It turns out a little blurry picture!
Artist Tips: Take a shade of paint twice as dark as you need. As it dries, it becomes lighter!
Notice how much lighter the sky got when the paint dried. You need to know in advance how the paints will look when they dry!
We begin to work more carefully with the rocks. I would like to add dark shades in the water area.
Since the sky is almost finished and dark stones have appeared in the rock area, it's time to pay attention to the details of the lighthouse itself! If I started with the lighthouse, then all the other details would not look so great.
Since the building is white, it's worth starting with a warm shade of Nickel Azo Yellow to create some glowing hues. While the paint is still wet, you can start tracing the doors and trim the details with Cobalt Teal and Azo Yellow. I draw windows completely, not trying to outline only their outline.
We draw the top of the lighthouse with Blue Phthalocin (Pthalo Blue) and Burnt Sienna (burnt sienna). Note how the shade turned out when the black paint had to be stretched with a towel. It captures the blue color of the sky incredibly accurately - just perfect!
Some areas were left unpainted for the glass image. If this does not work for you, then use white gouache.
And now let's move on to darker outlines and dark windows. I do this with a thin round brush.
The bright red cadmium on the roof looks inviting. It stands out clearly against the sky. It should be like this! But leave a few unpainted areas in it so that it blends better with the whole composition of the picture.
You need to darken the highlights on the rocks so that they blend with the lighthouse. A large number of dry brush strokes in the rock area will create a finer texture.
I'm using the same greens and yellows as the lighthouse to lightly outline the distant islands. Light strokes create a sense of the depth of the ocean on the horizon.
The final stage in the image of the Portland lighthouse!
And now that the painting is completely dry, it's worth noting the benefits of rough paper! Pay attention to the texture of the ocean, rocks and sky. The type of paper you use to draw can completely change how you feel about drawing.
With a damp towel, I softened the red on the left side of the roof a bit. It's like a distraction from a real lighthouse.
I'm happy that the image of the Portland Lighthouse turned out so classic. My inimitable father-in-law said, looking at the picture (and she loves lighthouses more than I do), that it is for her like a Christmas present. I thought that it really fits with Christmas because of the abundance of green and red flowers.
I have 2 more types of lighthouse that I would like to draw right now. After all, they are a unique, but at the same time, a traditional detail of America, which I may draw a myriad of times in my life. I really can't wait for the boys to grow up and be able to paint my favorite place in peace. Someday, next year, I will finally draw another lighthouse for you.
I can't wait to get started, but I'm still thinking about drawing lessons, it's better to change the subject a bit. So many artists get used to depicting only one subject, or different subjects in the same style!
Even beginners without art education can draw. The main thing is to have enough inspiration and a simple pencil with an eraser. Most often, attention is drawn to marine themes, so this article will discuss how to draw a landscape with a lighthouse and what options are available for its design.
Preparation
For drawing, you need to prepare a sheet of high-density paper (a regular A4 is also suitable for hatching or colored pencils), a well-sharpened HB pencil, and an eraser.
For decoration, you may need simple pencils of different hardness or colored, as well as any types of paints. This lesson uses watercolors for coloring.
How to draw a lighthouse with a pencil?
In order to draw a seascape, you need to unfold the sheet in a horizontal position. For a small sketch, you can also choose vertical.
With a pencil, you should make the first sketches. At the initial stage, do not press hard on the pencil in order to be able to correct the details without too much dirt. First, you need to outline on the sheet the base on which the lighthouse itself will be located, and then draw the trapezoidal base of the object.
The key here is to keep the proportions. Then the further process of mastering how to draw a lighthouse will not cause difficulty. After the base has taken its place, you can add details. Namely: you need to complete the top of the tower by making a small platform with a railing, a spotlight and a roof.
At the base, you should draw a door, and also divide it into 5 parts using lines. The top and bottom parts should be larger than those in the middle. We do the same for windows.
After the lighthouse is drawn, you can move on to the landscape itself. First you need to outline the desired line of the sky. You can leave it as it is, or add mountains or the outlines of the opposite coast. In addition, it is possible to extend the territory from the side of the lighthouse.
At will, birds, trees, ships and whatever your heart desires can be added to the drawing. There are no special rules on how to draw a lighthouse and its surroundings. If you plan to paint with watercolors, you should not highlight the contours too much. Also drawing additional details is optional.
Decorating with pencils
In order to give the picture the necessary volume, it is worth doing the drawing of details. Then add shadows to each object using hatching, determining the location of the sun. Or highlight the light from the lighthouse at night.
When coloring with colored pencils or sketch markers, it all depends on the color preferences of the artist. The biggest difficulty will be in the design of the sea and sky. To get acquainted with the technique, you can watch this video.
Coloring with watercolors
How to draw a lighthouse was described above. To paint the landscape, you must first of all monitor the purity of the water. In addition, you will need thick and thin brushes. You can start with any large object, the main thing is to take into account the fact that light colors are applied first. Plus, before moving on to the next one, you should wait for the first one to dry completely. A version of the lighthouse, made in watercolor, is presented in the video below.
In this lesson, the design begins with the mountains. First, wet the right amount of paper. Then mix the desired shade in the palette and proceed to coloring.
For the mountains, a combination of emerald green and green watercolor was used, plus inclusions of yellow ocher. After drying, it was the turn of the sky. In general, it is most reasonable to move in one direction and not jump from place to place (for example, from top to bottom). For the sky, bright blue and turquoise were used, with a little bit of pink and gunse yellow.
In order to color the sea, you can first mark areas with foam with wax crayon. If it was not at hand, salt can also be used for interesting overflows. For the sea, an ultramarine shade and bright blue paint with a little black added were chosen.
Well, in conclusion, we finish drawing the lighthouse, the coast and add the necessary details. In particular, red was chosen for the lighthouse. Regarding the coast, it was decided not to add unnecessary details.
This is what a beginner's result might look like. This picture is just an example of how to draw a lighthouse simply and quickly. With due diligence and desire, the landscape will turn out much better, the main thing is to turn on your imagination and enjoy the process.
You will need the following materials:
Tinted paper;
Pastel white, yellow, blue, green, light and dark red, brown, gray and black.
Important! I will show you the first two stages of sketching on white paper again. And you use tinted paper and white chalk for a sketch!
Divide the tower into seven parts and draw a small triangle on top as a roof. Since the tower is round, the horizontal lines should be slightly curved!
Draw a lighthouse around the dotted line in the center.
Next to the lighthouse, draw two small houses - the sketch is ready!
Draw blue sky, green meadow. Where houses and a tower should be, leave the paper blank.
Then paint the sky white. Then blend the strokes in the sky and the meadow.
Use light red and white for the lighthouse and houses, and black for the roof of the tower. Leave narrow areas on the red surface of the lighthouse unpainted.
Now we will work on the light and shadow: paint the red areas near the edges with dark red, and paint over the remaining unpainted stripes with white. The roofs of the houses are shaded brown. In the meadow, due to the yellow color, light areas will appear. Then blend out the strokes.
STEP IV
Add some cobalt blue to paint the area under the clouds. And then a darker blue to create a haze near the horizon - for this mix ultramarine with maroon and Payne's gray.
Continue working on the softness of the cloud silhouette using a damp brush and paper towel. Then mix ultramarine with crayon and Payne's gray and paint shadows on the clouds, which will give them the illusion of volume.
Dry your work well before moving on to the next step.
STEP V
Determine the tone of the buildings and the lighthouse and blend the hue using ultramarine with mottled and Payne's gray. It is similar to the dark areas of the sky, as the shadows always reflect the surrounding objects.
To paint buildings, use thin round brushes.
Since the lighthouse is round, when drawing its shadow, make it a soft border on the border with the light. You can also add warm shades of orange for reflections in the shadows to avoid monochromatic color.
At the end, do not forget to write a drop shadow from the lighthouse.
STEP VI
Leave the shadows to dry and continue painting the details of the lighthouse and buildings.
Mix Payne's gray with blue and mottled, paint the lighthouse's balcony, roof and windows. Make sure the shadow is dry before painting the windows. To do this, check the moisture content of the paper by touching it with the back of your hand - if the paper is still cold to the touch, then the layer is not yet dry enough. But for now, you can add details on other buildings.
STEP VII
While you are waiting for the buildings and the lighthouse to dry, start painting the ocean.
Mix a large amount of paint to cover a large area. You will need: Ultramarine, Ceruleum, Peacock Blue with Cobalt Blue and a little Hooker's and Sap Green and a little Paine's Gray. This mixture should resemble the color of the sky, as water always reflects its surroundings.
Use a large brush to dampen the horizon line with clean water. Add some Payne Gray and Hooker's Green to the ocean mix and start painting the water from the horizon down. Try to merge the border of the sky with the border of the ocean.
STEP VIII
As you move down, as you get closer to the foreground, go around the rocks and foam patches, adding progressively darker colors (more blue or green) where needed.
You can add burnt sienna and a little speck to tone down the color.
Try to draw the movement of the water and leave unpainted areas for the foam. For areas where water turns into foam, soften the edges with a #0 brush and clean water until the edges are dry. Keep alternating between filling the ocean surface and softening the edges until you're done.
STEP IX
While the ocean dries, paint the roofs of the buildings.
Mix ocher yellow with cadmium orange and paint the roofs. Since watercolor paint is transparent, you can even apply it on top of the shadows if needed. This will add harmony and depth to the picture.
Add dark cadmium red, more cadmium orange and some burnt sienna for the shingles and rusty areas.
To paint the color of the roof in shadow, you can add speckle and ultramarine for a dark purple. Use this color to draw the underside of the roofs (i.e. the roof shadow).
Mix the blue with a bit of Payne's gray to paint the rest of the building's details, such as the windows. Don't overload them. Use a paper towel to remove excess paint. Keep a reference picture and a sketch handy to help you stick to the right tones and hues.
STEP X
Clean your palette with a slightly damp paper towel, then determine the tone and local color of the rocks nearby.
Mix ocher, cadmium red and some purple, adding just enough water to lighten the color.
Start the rock fill with this color, leaving the foam and splatter white. Soften the edges on the border of stones and water with a damp brush.
Use the local color of the rock as the base layer, as even shadows and highlights contain this color. In a few places you can mix in more Cadmium Yellow Orange or Cadmium Red to make the stones in the foreground more interesting and give more depth to your painting.
STEP XI
When the base layer of rocks is relatively dry, add more burnt sienna and a mixture of blues to the original orange to paint the mid tone of the rocks in the middle of your painting. You can add a few cracks and other textural details, but don't overdo it, as it's important that the rocks frame your lighthouse and not be the main subject of the painting.
For the darker areas of the rock (where they are darker because they are wet from the waves), add Burnt Umber, Ultramarine, Violet and Payne's Gray to your rock color mix and use the #1 brush to paint them. Again, avoid foam and surf as they should stay white.
STEP XII
To paint splashes of water where the waves hit the rocks, dampen the brush with clean water, and remove some paint from the base of the rock where the splash should appear. The resulting soft spot should look like a cloud. If it's still too dark, you can use a paper towel to remove more paint.
Keep adding splashes here and there as you paint along the base of the rocks, but don't repeat this too often or it will look too monotonous.
Add more burnt umber and sienna where you want to combine the rock with its shadow, and use the same color to paint cracks or other textural details on the rocks.
Be selective - details should be more defined in the foreground, so don't add them to rocks that aren't the focus.
STEP XIII
Then mix the color for the meadow using Sap Green and Cadmium Yellow Dark to fill in the sunlit area.
Apply to the surface of a rocky island under the buildings and the lighthouse. Pay close attention to the shape formed by the grass on top of the cliff and how it clings to the surface.
When you're done, add some burnt sienna to paint the shadow and bottom of the grass, this will add some dimension to the grass.
STEP XIV
Add shadows to these rocks using the same color as the other rocks and paint the rocky effect with jagged brush strokes. Keep checking the tone and use your sketch for reference.
You can also add cracks to the foreground, but again, getting the shadows right is more important than adding too much detail.
Add caeruleum to the mixture at the base of the rocky island where it meets the sea. For the darkest areas where the stones are always wet, mix burnt umber and purple, especially as you get closer to the front of the painting.
This is the best way to add aerial perspective to your painting - objects closer to you will be darker in color than objects further away. Also, avoid using black at all costs as it will reduce the brightness and lifespan of your painting.
STEP XV
Sometimes you can add some dark cadmium red to the shade. And don't forget to soften the base where the stone meets the water. Use the same paint stripping technique mentioned earlier to create splashes of water crashing against the stone.
As you paint the darkest areas, add more purple, burnt umber and sepia, and paint more cracks and details.
To reproduce the rough texture of rock, you can use the dry brush method, which is when you remove most of the paint from your brush before transferring it to paper. The roughness of the paper should accept a small amount of ink in some places, resulting in a rough, rocky texture. You can test this on a piece of watercolor paper before adding this effect to the rocks in the foreground.
STEP XVI
Finally, add finishing touches to your painting, such as more waves, splashes, etc. Try not to overload your painting, as this can drown out signs of your unique art style and the painting's own personality.
However, if you have planned your work well in advance, you do not need to spend too much time adding finishing touches or correcting mistakes.
As a final step, wait until the painting is completely dry and then use an eraser to remove pencil lines that are smearing areas of white or light areas. They should be easy to remove if there are not too many layers of paint on the surface.
And when you're done, feel free to sign the painting, give it a title, and frame it for everyone to see!
Translation: Marina Trushnikova
Lesson #26
We continue painting lessons For emerging artists. Today we will draw with watercolors a beautiful scenery: a white lighthouse that stands on the seashore in Australia.
How to draw white color? Of course, just leave the unpainted paper, show a little how the shadow falls and draw small details with a thin brush.
I chose this photo for this lesson.
The sea, clouds in the sky and a white staircase that leads to the lighthouse. In order to depict the details, we will first have to make an accurate sketch with a simple pencil, and then carefully draw with a thin brush, allowing the picture to dry well.
We look at the photo and draw a horizon line, a lighthouse, a stair railing and bushes along the ruler. At this stage, we need to be sure to draw all the details: railings, fence posts and even steps and windows on the lighthouse.
We collect blue paint on a thick brush and immediately draw clouds, trying to convey their shape.
Now you can paint the sky. Be sure to choose different colors: blue for the upper part of the sky and purple, we will draw them near the horizon.
We dilute the blue paint with water and draw the clouds so that they turn from white spots into cumulus clouds.
To do this, simply put small strokes with a brush, making wavy lines. We draw very carefully near the lighthouse and take our time so as not to cross the pencil lines.
If we start working on the sea now, the colors will flow and ruin our drawing. Therefore, we collect brown paint on the brush and draw the earth in the foreground and near the bushes.
Before the paint is dry, add a yellow tint to the left, the sun is shining there, so the grass is not so green. On the steps of the stairs we draw in gray, which we dilute well with water.
The sky is dry, so you can paint the sea. We work carefully so that the horizon line remains flat, and the lighthouse remains white. For water, choose a mixture of blue, blue, purple and green colors.
First, we try the resulting color on the palette, and then apply it with wide strokes to the water.
We leave the picture so that the paints dry, but for now you can draw green bushes. We just try not to go beyond the line of the sea so that the colors do not flow.
We collect herbal green paint on a thin brush and draw the brightest places, where the bushes are lit by the sun.
We draw green leaves, mixing green paint with brown.
We work on the bushes until they are completely painted. If there are white gaps, it's okay, we'll paint them over a little later.
Now you can make the sea brighter, for this we apply another layer of paint, making different mixtures.
On the lighthouse we draw windows and a door with black paint, at this stage of work we need a thin brush. Add color to the leaves on the right and left, painting over the white gaps.
We put dark spots on the green bushes below so that a shadow appears on the picture. With the same color, draw between the leaves to convey the shape of the bushes.
We add green color to the ground, then grass will appear in the picture, which grows on the shore.
We draw the grass that grows between the fence slats and along the stairs. On the ground, you can add yellow and brown shades.
We definitely need to show which side the sun is shining from, so we draw a shadow near the bushes with a mixture of green and brown colors.
On the grass on the left, we see the shadow of the stairs, so we draw several long lines along the fence. On the steps we draw thin lines with gray paint, we work with the very tip of the brush, drawing steps.
Grass is also growing inside the stairs, for which we choose a dark green paint, because now the grass is in the shade.
There is not much left: we add details that are still missing in the picture.
We make a very light gray color and draw a railing. But we do not paint over them completely, but draw thin lines along the inside, so that in this place the railing acquires volume. In the same way, we draw white columns: we outline each column on the left in gray, in this place they are darker, because they are in the shade.
On the lighthouse on the left, add gray paint and blue, after diluting them with water. After that, you need to let the picture dry well. Then we draw a door above and a red lattice.
We draw several horizontal lines to convey the shape of the lighthouse.
Our picture is ready.
