Hello, I'm Cherry, and this time I'm going to show you my technique for painting water and some bubbles, especially if you're a beginner.
I believe that water, reflective objects (like glass or diamonds), and mirrors are very complicated to illustrate, as they involve a complex system of studying light, shadow, and color, but they can also be simplified. In this case, we will understand water in a simpler way.
The Water.
To paint water, choose 3 colors: a dark color, an intermediate color (base), and a light color. These three colors can be a triad of complementary or analogous colors. They don't necessarily have to be blue just because it's water.
To create the waves, use the intermediate color to paint undulating oval shapes (as shown in the gif) and fill in the spaces where these shapes meet. Finally, do the same with the lightest color.
The layers are arranged in different layers in this way:
1.-Bottom layer: the intermediate color will be the base color of the water.
2.-Middle layer: the dark color will be the color of the lower wave.
3.-Top layer: the light color will be the light of the water's wave
It's also important to mention that to enhance the depth of the water, you can add a gradient over the base color layer.
If you want to add more shine to the water's surface layer (which I recommend), copy and paste the lightest color layer.
Do the following on this same layer:
Filter → Blur → Gaussian Blur (use the amount that seems best to you)
You can set this blurred layer to “Add (Glow)” blending mode if you wish.
I recommend it depending on the amount of light in the scene you are illustrating and the intensity with which you want the water to shine.
To add some drops and bubbles on the water, do the following on a new layer:
In the toolbar, select the airbrush tool → With the “Tone Scraping” brush and/or the “Droplets” brush, paint along the lines of the light color.
“Foam” or white surf appears at the edges where water comes into contact with an object, due to the water hitting it. This is common in the sea, where the water flow is constant. Therefore, if your illustration has objects, people, or depicts a seashore, it would be correct to border these with foam.
You can make this foam with the same brush or airbrush you used to create the drops.
Bubbles Under Water.
To paint bubbles, you just need to be clear about the light and shadow points in your illustration.
1.- First, paint a wavy (not circular) bubble with a hard brush using a light color (almost white) in the direction of the light. I recommend using the “Dense Watercolor” or “Oil Paint” brush.
2.- On the inner edge of the bubble, paint with a very dark blue color and blend the color inwards.
3.-Repeat this action with other bubbles around; however, smaller bubbles are almost entirely light colored.
4.-Underwater, bubbles that are further from our sight are blurred, and for optical reasons, only light is reflected in them. If you want to create this effect, copy and paste the layer where you painted bubbles and move it up. This layer should be set to “Add (Glow)” blending mode.
This way, you will have a convincing view of bubbles underwater.
Done! What do you think? I'm sure that after following these steps, painting water no longer seems so complicated, right?
I hope I've helped you with my tutorial.
I wish you much success!
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Links where you can find my work:
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