Silent Wave Breaking on Rocks | Night Ocean | Full Moon | Distant Mountains |

Before You Begin

• Prep Your Canvas: Dampen your canvas with clean water using a big soft brush or a mister. This helps acrylics stay workable and makes blending easier.
• Pre-moisten Your Palette: Use a water sprayer or lightly damp paper towel beneath your paint blobs to keep your acrylics from drying too fast.
• Keep Tools Ready: Gather a 4” square brush, large oval brush, filbert brush, detailed square and round brushes, ultra-soft blending brush, palette knife, liner brush, and clean towels for wiping.

PAINTING TIPS

PAINT BRUSHES

Essential Painting Tools

1. 4” Square Brush – For large area coverage and blending backgrounds.
2. Large Oval Brush – Useful for soft blending and creating smooth transitions.
3. Filbert Brush – Great for softer edges and blending landforms and highlights.
4. Detail Square Brush – For adding precise highlights, details, and cloudwork.
5. Round Brush – Perfect for painting tree silhouettes and organic shapes.
6. Ultra-Soft Blending Brush – For final blending and smoothing out brush strokes.
7. Palette Knife – Ideal for adding sparkling effects and creating crisp edges, especially in the water.
8. Liner Brush – Best for detailing, such as thin grass and finishing sparkles.
9. Clean Towels or Paper Towels – For wiping brushes and removing excess moisture or paint during blending.

Be sure to also have a water container for rinsing brushes and a palette for mixing your paints. Happy Painting!

• Miscellaneous:
  • Palette (for mixing paints).
  • Water container (for rinsing brushes).
  • Paper towels (for wiping excess paint).
  • Hairdryer or heat gun (optional, for speeding up drying).

Here is a comprehensive, step-by-step painting guide based on the UrArtStudio tutorial for Silent Wave Breaking on Rocks | Night Ocean.

Preparation & Materials

Recommended Canvas

• Size: 12×14” (or preferred landscape canvas)
• Level: Beginner to Intermediate

Color Palette

• Darks & Cools: Black, Violet, Phthalo Blue, Phthalo Green
• Earth & Warmth: Burnt Sienna, Indian Yellow
• Highlights: Titanium White

Essential Painting Tools

1. 4” Square Brush – For large area coverage and blocking in the background.
2. Large Oval Brush – Vital for soft blending, cloudwork, and smooth transitions.
3. Filbert Brush – Excellent for forming rocks, soft land edges, and wave highlights.
4. Detail Square Brush – For precise highlighting, structured elements, and sharp detail lines.
5. Round Brush – For sketching organic silhouettes or rocky details.
6. Ultra-Soft Blending Brush – For sweeping over the sky and water to create a velvet-smooth look.
7. Palette Knife – Ideal for crisp water glints, fine shoreline lines, and sharp highlights.
8. Liner Brush – Best for fine detailing, thin spray effects, and signing your work.

Step-by-Step Instructions

This comprehensive painting guide is based on the video tutorial “Silent Wave Breaking on Rocks” by Valery Dranitsyn. It follows the instructional style and formatting of the URARTSTUDIO step-by-step guides.

Silent Wave Breaking on Rocks: Step-by-Step Painting Guide

Capture the mysterious beauty of a moonlit night at sea. This tutorial focuses on creating a glowing, translucent wave, misty atmosphere, and the sharp contrast of light hitting rugged rocks.

Materials Needed:

• Canvas: 12×14″ (or preferred size)
• Paint Colors: Black, Phthalo Blue, Mint Green, Orange Red, Titanium White.
• Brushes: Large flat brush, URARTSTUDIO Oval Brush (for blending and foam), Liner brush (for details), and a Small flat brush.
• Extra Tools: Heat tool (optional for fast drying), Palette knife.

Step 1: Establishing the Horizon and Sky Glow

Start by loading a large flat brush with Phthalo Blue.

1. The Moon Glow: Paint a circular motion in the upper left quadrant of the canvas to indicate where the moon will be. Do not cover the very center; leave it lighter.
2. The Horizon: Paint a crisp horizontal line across the lower middle of the canvas to separate the sky from the ocean.
3. The Atmosphere: Use Black mixed with Phthalo Blue to fill in the corners and the top of the canvas, blending inward toward the moon glow to create a vignette effect.

Step 2: Distant Mountain Silhouettes

While the sky is still slightly tacky:

1. Shapes: Using a dark mixture (Black + Phthalo Blue), paint the silhouette of large, jagged mountains on the right side of the canvas, extending from the horizon up into the sky.
2. Blending: Use a dry Oval Brush to soften the base of the mountains, creating a misty, atmospheric look where the land meets the sea.

Step 3: Painting the Full Moon and Clouds

1. The Moon: Take a small amount of pure Titanium White on your finger or a small brush and dab a bright, solid circle in the center of your sky glow.
2. Clouds & Mist: Using the Oval Brush and a very small amount of white (dry-brush technique), scrub in soft, horizontal clouds around the moon.
3. Atmospheric Light: Carry some of that light down toward the horizon and across the mountain faces to show the moon’s reflection in the air.

Step 4: Detailing the Mountains & Cliffs

1. Rock Texture: Mix Titanium White with a tiny touch of Orange Red to create a warm highlight. Use a palette knife or a small flat brush to “graze” the left edges of the mountains (the side facing the moon).
2. Foliage: Use a small brush with a dark green/black mix to stipple tiny “bushes” or “trees” along the ridges of the cliffs to provide a sense of scale.

Step 5: The Translucent Wave Core

The wave is the centerpiece of this painting.

1. The Glow: Apply Mint Green in a curved, horizontal stroke just below the horizon on the left. This represents the light passing through the water.
2. The Shadow: Beneath the Mint Green, transition into Phthalo Blue and then Black at the very base of the wave to create depth and volume.
3. The Beach: Use Orange Red mixed with Black to paint the foreground sand. This warm tone provides a beautiful contrast to the cool blues of the water.

Step 6: Creating the Breaking Wave and Foam

1. The Crest: Load your Oval Brush with Titanium White. Using a tapping/stippling motion, create the “crashing” foam at the top of the wave.
2. The Splash: Tightly stipple white foam where the wave hits the large rock in the mid-ground. Use upward strokes to simulate the energy of the spray.
3. Blending the Foam: Use the clean side of the Oval Brush to pull some of the white foam down into the body of the wave in a curved motion, following the “roll” of the water.

Step 7: Water Ripples and Final Highlights

1. Reflections: Use a Liner Brush with thinned Titanium White to draw fine, horizontal lines across the surface of the distant water and the wet sand.
2. Wave Details: Add thin, “vein-like” lines of white inside the translucent part of the wave (the Mint Green area) to show the movement of the water.
3. Signature: Once you are satisfied with the mist and foam, sign your masterpiece in the bottom corner using a liner brush.

Key Takeaways for Success:

• The Power of the Oval Brush: This brush is essential for the “misty” clouds and the “bubbly” texture of the seafoam.
• Color Contrast: Don’t be afraid of the Orange Red. Even in a night scene, these warm undertones in the rocks and sand make the blues feel more vibrant.
• Less is More: When dry-brushing clouds or foam, always wipe most of the paint off your brush onto a paper towel first. You can always add more, but it’s hard to take away!

For more tips and techniques, visit the official URARTSTUDIO YouTube Channel.