How to paint beach grass and sand in watercolor

Painting Sand and Beach Grass in Watercolor

Try this simple lesson to learn to paint sand or sand hills. Start by painting a warm golden sandy color over the lower 2/3's of your dry paper as shown in the example. Add some shadow colors of purples and blues while the first color wash is still wet. Then let it dry completely.
Hint: Most colors look darker when wet but they will dry slightly lighter.

Next, to paint the beach grass use a stiff bristled brush (shown is my cutter brush) to make grassy strokes by painting a mixture of green and yellow color across a torn piece of scrap watercolor paper. The brush should be semi-dry or not vet wet with paint..
Turning and re-positioning the torn paper stencil will give you a variety of interesting sand dune shapes.

Use 140# CP or Rough WC paper for best results

To add a blue sky area add a thin wash of blue to the top 1/3 of the paper when the grass is completely dry.   On the left of the dune and along the horizon you can add some water for the ocean or add another dune behind this one. Keep it simple, it only takes a stroke or two.
Use your imagination to fill in the lower left side. This area is open for any other beach vegetation or seashells, or if you want to try footprints in the sand go to the next page to learn more!

Back to Watercolor Tips               Footprints in the Sand