Colour of the sea

[gorgosaurus]

What colour is the sea???

Having moved house, I´ve finally got around to unpacking some of the models I´d like to finish over summer.

This will be the base for one of them :-

It´s almost there, a touch of japan yellow mixed into gloss varnish in a very thin wash over the foam and then 4 or 5 coats of varnish to add depth and liquidity.
But I´d like to give the green more of the darker, less greeny green look of Atlantic deep water.

Anyone got any helpful advice?

Spike.

 

[vergilius]

Indigo, perhaps?

 

[gorgosaurus]

I thought that may shift the water too much towards blue???
Willl try suggestions out on the bottom of the base.

Spike.

 

[vergilius]

Do you paint in oils?

 

[megroot]

The Northsea is Grey,
The Mediterranean see is blue.

Marc

 

[gorgosaurus]

Do you paint in oils?

Not yet, Vergilius.
This is acrylics.
An investment in oils will probably come later this year.

Spike.

 

[PJ Deluhery]

Your work is very good, and I'm fascinated by the model. Is it a commercially available piece?

My only suggestion on painting would be to perhaps make a more gradual transition from dark to light at the crest where it turns white. I might also try for more of a transparent look on the vertical part as it rises up.

 

[ausf]

That's a tough one. Waves that reach the shore pick up a lot of particulate matter that depends on what's underneath....sand, rock, etc. Waves hitting lava on Hawaii remain pristine blue while the stuff that pounds the New York beaches is a sandy, brownish-slop.

That would be a great piece cast in clear so it could be tinted and remain slightly transparent.

 

[renarts]

I think it becomes relative to the context you are putting it in.
Seas look different under various lighting conditions, lattitudes and depths. On one day the sea here off the Florida coast can be a rich turqouis and in an hour if it clouds up turn to a dark grey. In morning it can seem midnight blue to bright green by afternoon. Hit the edge of the gulf stream and you have aqua next to dark green. Breakers near the beach can be white, sandy, muddy, have a green to yellow glow from the sun shining through to almost black.

So I don't think there is any right answer. Its water and understood as water.

 

[gorgosaurus]

This is the look I was trying for

I´ve added a very thin wash of japan yellow to parts of the foam and coated in gloss varnish. I´ll try a last wash of dark blue-grey to the water furthest from the wave and blend upwards. Also a bit of white blended out from the foam at the edges.
This is for one of my prehistoric beasties, PJ. 70 (!) bucks for the base alone from Watson sculpting in Canada.

Spike.

 

[Einion]

I thought that may shift the water too much towards blue???

The sea does generally look blue. And if you look down into it it's often quite black. But if you want to stick to green then stick to green - personal taste is as important as anything.

Do you have Viridian or Phthalo Green Blue Shade? Glaze with them.

Einion