DIY Ocean Painting | Americana Premium

I was so excited when I received an email from DecoArt about their new American Premium Acrylic paint and inviting me to take part in this blog campaign to introduce it! Right away, I know I wanted to do a DIY Ocean Painting with Americana Premium, and I can’t wait to share it with you….

So let’s go!

First, When I received a box of the Americana Premium paint, I couldn’t even make 24 hours without using it! I am like a kid in a candy store when it comes to paint and I have to try everything. This paint was so rich and creamy and I loved how it would go on smooth and thin, or thick depending on how you wanted it.

For this DIY painting, I use it both ways which is what I think gives it such fun texture. To start, grab an 8″ x 8″ canvas, paint, and some nice thick brushes (tiny brushes need not apply for this job!). Using a pencil, roughly divide your canvas into three equal sections. We like using the rule of thirds around here!

I started at the bottom and in the lowest third, I mixed Cobalt Blue and Dark Grey, with a little Cobalt Teal.

(Also, plan to scroll because I love big photos, so no cluster photos here!) Next, I started mixing in the teal and white and painted it up still going back and forth to blend a little.

In the top third of the canvas, I added more teal and blended more. Finishing by painting the sides…

Next, You want to note where the ocean line is, and following that rule of thirds, I made it one third of the way up. I used more of the grey blue + teal and laid it on thicker.

Next comes the fun part! I started laying paint down in layers adding thickness and texture as I went. I did this with the ocean and added a little land on the right and left.

When I was happy with the way it looked, I made another “clean stroke” across the ocean line to make sure my land wasn’t dipping down as I wanted it to appear to be off in the distance. After that, I was able to start on the sky! I mixed Primary Yellow, Primary Magenta, and White to create some fluffly “sunset clouds”.

I used a large round brush and basically twisted and rolled it across the canvas, leaving a swirled line and chunks of paint deposited onto the canvas as I went! I love this effect when I am doing waves or clouds!

I continued doing this as I painting towards the top adding in more teal as I went.

Once I reached the top, I checked over for any think I needed to touch up and then I washed my brushes and felt summer wash over me with these beautiful colors!! I am so thrilled to find American Premium and I can’t wait to use it again!