I haven’t painted anything in SO long! That’s why I got excited when I found these mini canvases. I could have time to paint, but on a smaller scale. And they’re so cute. Who wouldn’t love these? I think I’ll make one for every season and keep them on my desk at work.

They don’t take long to make and definitely add some oomph to your space, wherever that may be. You only need a few supplies and some small paint brushes.

 

Beach Sunset Painting Supplies

• acrylic paint
• mini canvas
• paint palette
• cup filled with water
• paint brushes (small brushes)
• paper towels are helpful

 

Step 1: choose your paint

Pick the colors you want to use.

My recommendations:

• blues
• pinks
• purples
• oranges/yellows
• black
• white

I’d also recommend white in case you don’t have light versions of those colors. you can mix to get a lighter variation.

I chose a medium and light of each color.

 

Step 2: start the sunset with pink

Paint the medium pink across the top right corner of the canvas. Make that section pretty thick.

Then, paint white from the middle of the canvas to where the pink starts.

Use the heavy amount of pink paint to cover your brush again and brush downward into the white until you have a gradient like in the image above.

Use your colors here! Mix in some of the light purple or light pink to give the sunset some depth. Play around with it until you’re happy.

 

Step 3: sunset with blue

Do the same thing you did above, but start with blue. don’t use a dark blue, but a medium blue, teal or turquoise. It will look really nice with your pink.

Again, paint across the top left corner and use the paint to brush downward into the white.

Note: acrylic paint dries fast. If it dries before you get to blend, just wet your paint brush a bit and the paint will start working for you again.

 

Step 3: paint the ocean

While the sky dries, we’re going to work on the ocean. Start with a bold blue line across the painting. I like to start it up a little bit higher than the center.

Pull the paint downward as you go. Use multiple shades of blue or some white. You can cover the whole bottom, but you don’t have to since we’ll be adding some sand. (You won’t be able to see much sand once we’re finished though.)

Then, use the white paint to add a some streaks (in a triangular shape) down the center of the water. This is going to be our reflection.

Mess around with the colors a bit. Get some good streaks in there.

Step 4: paint the sand

Get your yellows and golds together for the sand. Paint it across the bottom at an angle. Notice how the left side is higher than the right?

Don’t put too much effort into this part. Most of it is going to get covered up with the plants a few steps down. We just need some sand-colored coverage for the bottom.

In the step below, you can see that I played around more with my ocean and sand. Don’t be afraid to layer the colors. It makes a cool effect.

Step 5: paint the setting sun

Now that the sky is dry, we’re going to go back up and paint the sun.

First, you want to add some yellow in there. Try to make a light yellow, almost a cream color. Keep the yellow between the blue and the pink and down toward the ocean.

Maybe add a few light streaks of that into your ocean for the reflection.

If you want to make any touchups to your sky, now is the chance. Once we add the sun, it’s all over. Not really, but it will be harder.

Get white paint on your brush and dab it in the middle of the yellow to make a small circle. Don’t paint a circle. Dab it. If you paint it, it will mix will the other colors and your sun will become less vibrant.

 

Step 6: paint the beach plants

What is a sunset with a silhouette? I know it’s scary. You just made this beautiful beach and now you’re going to add black. Don’t freak out! It’s going to be okay.

Get black paint on your thinnest brush. No water for this one.

Start at the bottom of the left corner with your brush at the bottom of the painting and brush upward. Don’t apply pressure. This is a very light gesture. It’s okay if you can see the texture of the canvas. You can go over the plants again later. Keep going until that section is mostly covered.

You can add some white, gray or blue highlights along the grass.

You should also add some puffier plants. I have no idea what those are called but you can see them in the finished image below. Just paint small upward streaks on one of those grass blades. Repeat a few more times.

Voila! You made your own beach painting! And it’s so cute and little that you can display it anywhere.

I’d love to hear what you think. What colors are you going to use? Where are you going to put it?

Happy crafting… errr, painting!