Pastel Landscape Mastery: Water
Lesson Description
In this dynamic lesson from the Pastel Landscape Mastery course, Matt guides students through the process of drawing ocean water with soft pastels, with a strong emphasis on capturing movement and energy. Water is one of the most challenging elements in any landscape, but through a structured and approachable method, students learn how to create the illusion of waves, motion, and depth using color, value, and mark-making techniques.
Understanding the Nature of Moving Water
The lesson begins with a focus on observation—understanding how water behaves in motion. Rather than viewing the ocean as a flat surface, students are encouraged to see it as a series of shifting shapes and patterns. Waves are simplified into basic forms, making them easier to draw and organize within the composition.
By identifying the rhythm and repetition within the waves, students gain a better understanding of how to suggest movement without overcomplicating the drawing. This foundational approach makes even complex water scenes more manageable.
Establishing the Base with Color and Value
Matt demonstrates how to begin the drawing by blocking in the major shapes of the water using broad applications of pastel. Blues, greens, and subtle neutrals are layered to establish the base color of the ocean. At this stage, the focus is on large areas of value rather than small details.
By carefully controlling light and dark areas, students can begin to suggest the undulating surface of the water. Darker values indicate the troughs of waves, while lighter areas begin to hint at highlights and reflected light. This early attention to value is essential for creating depth and realism.
Creating the Illusion of Waves
A key focus of this lesson is learning how to draw convincing waves. Matt explains how to use directional strokes and layered applications of pastel to mimic the flow of water. Rather than outlining each wave, students learn to suggest their forms through subtle shifts in value and color.
Highlights are added to the crests of waves using lighter pastels, while softer blending techniques are used to transition between light and shadow. This combination of sharp and soft edges helps create a natural, fluid appearance that captures the motion of the ocean.
Using Mark-Making to Suggest Motion
Mark-making plays a crucial role in conveying movement. Matt demonstrates how different types of strokes—short, broken marks or longer, sweeping lines—can be used to indicate the direction and energy of the water. These marks help guide the viewer’s eye across the surface of the ocean, reinforcing the sense of motion.
Students also learn how to vary pressure and layering to create texture, suggesting ripples, foam, and subtle variations across the water’s surface.
Balancing Detail and Simplicity
One of the most important lessons in this module is knowing when to simplify. While water is full of detail, not every ripple needs to be defined. Matt emphasizes focusing on key areas—such as the peaks of waves or areas of strong contrast—while allowing other sections to remain softer and more suggestive.
This balance keeps the drawing from becoming cluttered and ensures that the overall sense of motion remains clear and effective.
Bringing Energy to Your Landscapes
This lesson is a vital part of developing more dynamic landscape drawings. By learning how to capture the movement of water, students add a sense of life and energy to their work. The techniques covered here—layering, mark-making, and value control—can be applied to a variety of subjects beyond ocean scenes.
By the end of the lesson, students will have a deeper understanding of how to draw waves and suggest motion with pastels, creating a compelling ocean landscape that feels both natural and full of movement.
Lesson Materials
Toned pastel paper, soft pastels, pastel pencils, NuPastels.
Lesson Resources
Download eBook
Course Curriculum
Founder of The Virtual Instructor, artist and teacher. Matt makes learning art easy to understand and enjoyable.
Thinking of waves as little mountains with a highlight and shadow form certainly helps simplify the drawing of waves. Thank you.
I just love this pastel course!
Thanks so much for sharing your talents!
God bless……Nancy Wilson
I found this lesson very helpful but would you do ripples in a similar way, with a highlighted side and a shadowed side but less of a peak.
Hi Ricardo,
Yes, that would be a good approach. There will be less contrast between the dark and light values in this case, but they will still be present. The marks that are made could also be a bit rounded and less angular. As with anything else, you could test in a small area, and see if this approach works for your application.
Hi Matt, im having trouble with the pastels. I have oil pastels, and they dont blend nicely like you do in the video. Not even with fingers or stumps. What do i do?
I’m starting back into art after a 30 year break. Spent all day on this lesson and finally had a result I was happy with. Unfortunately the matte finish spray completely altered the colors and ruined it. I’ll be doing this again and hoping for even better results. What do you recommend for a fixative? I used Blick’s Matte which says it’s okay to use on pastels. I really don’t want to have any more work ruined. Thanks for your help and thanks for the wonderful tutorials!
Hi Linda,
I don’t use fixative for that very reason. It always changes the values and colors when I add it, so I decided to never use it again unless absolutely necessary. As long as you store your work with a cover sheet or frame it when it’s finished, you may not need fixative at all.
Sounds good. Thanks!
In using the pastel pencils to get the detail in with the foam and lines in the water, I’m wondering how your white is remaining so white. Mine seems to be mixing in with the color beneath it and getting muddled. Do I need to apply more pressure? More layers?
Hi Linda,
What brand of pastel pencil are you using? Some brands are not very strong with pigmentation and will not cover as opaquely. This could be the issue.
I’m using Stabilo CarbOthello. I did go with a less expensive set to make sure I wanted to continue with the pastel pencils before getting a more expensive set.
I just got this course and I love it! However, this video lesson on water seems to have a problem with playback. I’m moving on to the next and I’ve downloaded the ebook but if you can repair this module that would be great.
Hi Jennie,
The videos appear to be playing normally. If you are having trouble streaming the video, you may try turning off the HD. To do this, scroll over the video and click on the HD icon. This will help to prevent buffering.
HI, you usually say which color toned paper you use, in this one you didn’t. Does it matter which color we use? Will it make a difference in the overall feeling?
Hi Patricia,
The color of the paper can affect the finished piece when bits of it are left untouched. In this work, the paper is completely covered, so it is used basically to make comparisons in color and value as they are applied. The color of the paper used in this module is a medium gray.
Another great lesson. I did the lesson with the pan pastels, using a nupastel at the end to get the wave crests & spray. Really fun when the painting turns out nice.
Thanks,
J
What brand of pastel paper did you use?
Hi Rhonda,
This is toned Strathmore Pastel Paper.
Hi, Matt
I am just back from a 630ml walk round England’s SW Coast path and am keen to turn some of my photos into paintings so I searched out this lesson – superb! The previous one on rocks will also be of great help. Any suggestions on how to decide on which one of hundreds of fantastic photos to start with? Should I go for my favourite or look for perfect composition?
I will send you my first finished work for a critique – don’t hold your breath as it may take some time!!
Keep up the great work!
the first inspiration picture link leads to a blank page
Glad to hear that there are some pastel artists who don’t use fixative. I myself have been feeling very uncomfortable with fixative. Now I decided I would not use it unless necessary.
Thank you for the helpful discussion!
I live near the Atlantic ocean and waves fascinate me especially just before a major storm rolls through our area. Thank you for your critique in Member’s Minute episode 248 I learned so much and am going to start the same painting again following all your suggestions. I am excited to make the changes especially to the water along the creek bank. The Virtual Instructor course has been my best investment in my art adventure. I hope you will find time to add more lessons in the pastel section during 2020. Happy Holidays.
Great work Matt. I have two questions:
1) Usually, how many layers of pastels do you apply to consider a painting finished?
2) When do you consider a painting finished?
Best
Could I use pan pastels in place of sticks? I have Contè Á Paris (50), pan pastels (80), and Cabilo Carbothello (60).
Hi,
Is there any reference? coudn’t find
Hi! I’ve been looking all over the internet and have bought several oil pastel books, but I can find anything about how to do crashing waves and sea foam in oil pastel. Is it even possible?
If it is possible, can you make a video on it pretty please?