The moods of the sea

Last month we looked at painting calm, smooth sea, where the trick is to keep the gentle waves looking smooth with the use of subtle blending. Painting a more agitated sea, as it breaks on rocks, for instance, or as it comes up a steeply shelving pebble beach, needs the use of different techniques for applying the paint but it is not as difficult as you might first imagine. There are a few tricks that help to make the result look more believable, if not entirely accurate.

You will need to look for and observe first hand the way in which the wave behaves as it comes towards the shore. There are various elements that contribute to the behaviour of the wave, including tide direction, coming in or going out, and wind direction – off-shore, in-shore or along the coast. Looking out to sea, the first sign of the incoming wave is a slight swell, and as it comes closer the water becomes shallower, the wave rises higher and starts to push white water or foam in front of it. A crashing, high wave falls over on itself, but