I love the sea and all its power. Not only does it have dramatic moody stormy power, but it somehow has power to create peace in your soul. 

A watercolour painting of the sea by Ada Fagan:

This seascape scene is of a real place:

If you drive along the north coast of Natal, South Africa, you will come to an area that once was the Kingdom of Shaka the king of the Zulus. 

King Shaka was a mighty warrior and had a great army of imps. And if anyone annoyed him he would have them taken down to the sea and have them thrown off a high rock into the sea, to be eaten by sharks. 

That beach is called Shaka’s Rock. 

The watercolour seascape here:

Is the scene of the beach where that occurred! But that isn’t the huge rock where the sacrifices took place. The historic huge rock is more to the left of this painted scene. 

What sells seascape paintings!

People love dramatic action-packed scenes.  

• So if a seascape has a huge spray of water hitting a rock… that shows power. 
• People also love a huge clear wave starting to break in the surf… that is a plus. 
• If there is a sunset with the colour of the setting sun showing through a clear wave, that’s a bonus. 
• And if there are high dangerous cliffs with waves bounding on the rocks and cliff-face, that’s a real turn on emotionally. 

And mood is important 

Moody skies and sea also adds drama and emotional impact… because people buy according to their emotions. 

And how do you create mood? High percent of blur and the interplay of warm and cool colours, does the trick. 

How to paint sea water:

• Water looks clear and watery when there is a gradation and opposing of cool blues and greens. 
• The more translucent the paint and look of the clear water, the more refreshing and real the water looks.