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Welcome to The Pastel Hangout Newsletter

In this issue, I am celebrating spring with an ocean wave painting in soft pastels. I want to share with you some of the pictures I took along the way of painting this ocean scene. This is not meant to be a lesson to follow, but I will point out a few tips as I developed the wave and I hope it may be helpful. I did not work from a photo reference but occasionally looked at several of my beach photos to ensure I was capturing the flow of the wave. 

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Step 1

I am using 500 grade sanded paper, dimensions are 12 x 24. I drew out a shape of a wave and applied strokes of blue colors for my water and beige and tans for the underlying beach.

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Step 2

Using 70% Isopropal alcohol and brush, I blended these areas on my paper.

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Step 3

Once dried, I added darker blue to the base of the wave and beneath the cresting wave. I used a white pencil to outline where the overflowing wave should be.

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Step 4

I brushed it again with some rubbing alcohol to blend the color.

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Step 5

I am using light and medium blues to add some color to the gentle surf beneath the wave.

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Step 6

I used a sponge applicator very lightly to create and blend the surface foam and movement in the surf.

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Step 7

I started out with a small overturning wave and added some light green to the cresting wave to show some of its transparency. The base of the wave is darker.

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Step 8

I added many horizontal strokes of white to the background water to illustrate distant waves and light reflections. Using the edge of my sponge applicator I pulled some of the light blue color up into the cresting wave. 

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Step 9

I drew some birds along the beach for interest. I will add some reflections once the beach area is done.

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Step 10

Using a light shade of blue, I added some shallow water washing onto the shoreline. I added some light reflections with my white pastel. I will add some of the bird reflections in the final details.

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Step 11

Here is a sponge applicator I use for blending. I order a variety of replacement sponges of different shape sponges for my projects.

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Thank you and stay safe and healthy!

​

Rita Ginsberg

Step 12

I use my white pastels for the last layer to complete the overlapping wave and finish the white water foam.

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Step 13

I've added more shape and wave action by lengthening the wave to touch the surface of the water below and create some spray action. 

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I hope you have found this process of painting a wave helpful and informative, and if you are looking for more step-by-step guides, please visit my YouTube channel at: http://www.youtube.com/c/PastelArtwithRitaGinsberg for more in-depth soft pastel demonstrations.

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