How to Draw a Beach

Time needed: 35 minutes

How to Draw a Beach

1. Sketch the horizon line.

   First, lightly draw a straight horizontal line across your paper to represent the horizon. This line separates the sky from the water and gives your beach drawing its basic setting. As with any landscape, composition is very important. Use the rule of thirds or centering.

2. Add the sandy shore.

   Next, sketch a long, slightly curved line below the horizon. This represents the shoreline where the water meets the sand. Avoid any sharp angles to make the sand line smooth and authentic. Don’t forget to tilt your paper slightly when drawing curves to make your wrist movement smoother.

3. Sketch simple water waves.

   Now, add a few broken horizontal lines between the horizon and the shoreline to represent small waves on the water’s surface. These should be light, uneven, and varied in length so they don’t look unnatural. Compare it to handwriting – no two marks should look identical, just like no two waves are exactly alike.

4. Draw the beach umbrella pole.

   Place a vertical rectangle shape slightly tilted into the sand to begin the beach umbrella. This simple shape will act as the umbrella pole. Here, by the way, we can clearly see how the rule of thirds works in the drawing – the object that is important to the viewer is on the right side.

5. Draw the canopy of the beach umbrella.

   Sketch a large semi-circle on top of the pole, then divide it into several sections with curved lines. This is the umbrella canopy. Don’t worry if your first attempt isn’t perfect, this is why we sketch lightly at the start. Umbrellas are rarely flawless circles anyway, so a bit of unevenness can actually make it feel more natural.

6. Sketch the beach bucket.

   Now, draw a small sand bucket near the umbrella. Start with a trapezoid shape for the bucket body and add a simple oval around the base. By the way, if you draw a bucket using darker and more contrasting lines, it will seem closer to us than other objects.

7. Draw the beach ball.

   Place a round shape near the bucket to represent a beach ball. Later, you can divide the ball into segments with curved lines. The ball on the left side of the beach drawing will balance the composition well, and its placement next to the bucket will paint a full-fledged plot in the viewer’s imagination.

8. Finalize the contours.

   Using a darker pencil or pen, outline the details of your beach drawing. Carefully erase the extra guidelines you don’t need anymore. Pay attention to line weight: you can press a little harder on the outlines of the umbrella and leave the wave lines softer to convey the effect of aerial perspective.

9. Color the beach drawing.

   Color the umbrella in red, orange, or blue. Shade the bucket in a single color, like blue or yellow, while the beach ball can be divided into striped segments. Use a soft tan or light yellow tone for the sand, and add pale blue for both the water and sky. Keep the water slightly darker than the sky so the separation feels clear.