I put the value 6 grey on the whole of the shadow side of the lighthouse. The gray is mixed using burnt sienna and cerulean blue (ultramarine blue can also be used). The transition from shadow to light is softened with a clean damp brush to make the lighthouse look round.
Lighthouse Watercolor Tutorial
See how to paint a lighthouse in this step by step lighthouse watercolor tutorial. Includes access to the ChromaMagic color tool.
It’s a bit of a guilty pleasure but I just love painting a lighthouse. Luckily here in New England we have a lot to choose from. Lighthouse paintings have a lot of things I like about painting with watercolor. I love the sunlight on white walls and how they curve into shadow. I also really love hos the white looks against the blue sky, And the small details of windows and railings just give enough interest to make the painting convincing.
A Lighthouse watercolor painting is a good choice for a beginner
If you’re looking for an easy subject to paint in watercolor then lighthouses are a great option. They’re easy to draw and are fairly simple to make convincingly three-dimensional. In this subject the foreground is a little trickier (although I really enjoyed painting it). If you’re at the beginning of your painting journey then simplifying or leaving out the foreground might be a a good option.
- 100% cotton watercolor paper. I mainly use Fabriano Artistico.
- Scrap/student paper for color swatches (I like the Fabriano ‘Fat Pad’).
- A couple of 10 or 12 round watercolor brushes (sable or a good synthetic)
- Palette
- Spray bottle
- Mechanical Pencil
- Masking tape if you’re not using watercolor blocks or you want a crisp edge to your painting.
- Colors: cerulean blue, lemon yellow, vermillion, permanent rose, burnt sienna, ultramarine, black.
Lighthouse Watercolor Reference Image
Here is the reference I’ve chosen. It’s from pixabay.com and was drawn to the strong sunlight and the red and white stripes on the lighthouse itself. The foreground has quite a lot of detail which I’ve simplified and kept to just a few values.
Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse tutorial preview
Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse has been a very common request from you, so I finally did it. I think the sky might be a bit of a challenge, but you may paint it in a much simpler way based on the original reference photo. You will see in the tutorial how I changed the original photo, I removed people, I added seagulls and I changed the sky completely – all of this to create a bit more dramatic look with more movement. I hope you’ll enjoy this lesson. Take a look at the tutorial preview. Take a look at the tutorial preview. The full tutorial is available in my Online Watercolor School and in my Gumroad Shop.
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About the Author: Chris
Hi! I’m Chris, a watercolor artist and online teacher. I run my Online Watercolor School where I teach like-minded people how to achieve similar results to mine. If you like my art and you would like to learn how to paint like me, join us today! Happy Painting! 🙂
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