Sunrise or Sunset? Painting a Beach Landscape in Watercolor

There’s something slightly dangerous about painting a beach scene in the middle of regular life because suddenly your brain is on vacation and your body is still sitting at a desk.

This 8x10 watercolor landscape was part of a two-piece commission for a local client, and unlike most of my work, this one didn’t call for ink at all. The entire piece relied on softness and atmosphere instead—layers of watercolor doing all the heavy lifting on their own. The sky was really the main event here, shifting from blue and purple clouds in the foreground into this glowing horizon of warm yellows and oranges farther back in the distance. It’s intentionally a little ambiguous whether the sun is rising or setting, which I actually love because it gives the whole painting a quieter, more timeless feeling.

The perspective was also interesting to work through. Closer to shore, the water is textured with waves and movement, but farther out it becomes calmer and flatter. Along the sand, I added subtle footprints and little impressions in the dunes to keep the foreground from feeling too empty. It’s a simple scene on paper, but those are often the paintings that end up being the trickiest because every soft transition and color shift has to do a lot more work.

This was actually the companion piece to another commission featuring a dramatic sky over a lakeside home, which I’ll link here as well. Apparently this client decided I needed to spend a few weeks painting glowing skies, and honestly, I can't say I minded the assignment.

Learn how to commission a hand-painted watercolor landscape ➜