How To Draw A Beach Scene: 11 Steps (with Pictures) - WikiHow

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Terms of Use wikiHow is where trusted research and expert knowledge come together. Learn why people trust wikiHow How to Draw a Beach Scene PDF download Download Article Co-authored by Kelly Medford

Last Updated: March 10, 2025 Fact Checked

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  • Sketching the Background
    • |
  • Adding Details and Color
    • |
  • Video
    • |
  • Q&A
    • |
  • Tips
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This article was co-authored by Kelly Medford. Kelly Medford is an American painter based in Rome, Italy. She studied classical painting, drawing and printmaking both in the U.S. and in Italy. She works primarily en plein air on the streets of Rome, and also travels for private international collectors on commission. She founded Sketching Rome Tours in 2012 where she teaches sketchbook journaling to visitors of Rome. Kelly is a graduate of the Florence Academy of Art. There are 9 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 577,219 times.

Get a taste of summer freedom by drawing a beach scene. Start by making a horizon line and sketching the water and the sky. Then add in fun beach details like palm trees, umbrellas, and towels. Finally, color in your beautiful beach scene!

Steps

Method 1 Method 1 of 2:

Sketching the Background

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  1. Step 1 Draw a horizon line in pencil. 1 Draw a horizon line in pencil. Draw a straight, horizontal line across the middle of your piece of paper. This will be the horizon line, the line where the sea meets the sky.[1]
    • You can use a ruler to help you draw a straight line.
  2. Step 2 Add a wavy line for the edge of the water. 2 Add a wavy line for the edge of the water. Below the horizon line, but not quite at the bottom of your paper, draw a wavy line across your whole page. This will mark the tide-line, where the water reaches the sand.[2]
    • Make the curves of the line different sizes to make the waterline look more realistic.
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  3. Step 3 Draw little squiggles in the water to look like waves. 3 Draw little squiggles in the water to look like waves. Your scene will have the beach in the bottom part of your page, then the water, and then the sky. Make it clear that the ocean is water by adding little squiggles to look like waves.[3]
    • Don’t worry too much about making it look perfect. You are just at the pencil stage, and can fix it up later with colors.
  4. Step 4 Draw clouds in the sky. 4 Draw clouds in the sky. To draw a cloud, sketch short, connected curved lines. You can make the clouds as big or small as you want, and can also add swirls in the middle of the cloud for a more realistic effect.[4]
    • If you want your beach scene to be perfectly sunny, with no clouds, then feel free to skip them!
    • Study clouds and you will notice that they have perspective, which means they are like boxes going back towards the horizon.[5]
    • When painting your clouds, remember that even on sunny days, the shadows in clouds are lighter than the sky. This is important to making them feel like they are floating.[6]
  5. Step 5 Draw a sun or a moon. 5 Draw a sun or a moon. If you want your beach scene to take place at sunrise or sunset, then draw the sun as half a circle, sticking out of your horizon line, in the middle of the page. If you want your beach scene to take place in the middle of the day, then draw the sun as a full circle floating in the sky. If your scene is at night, add a moon by either drawing a circle or a crescent.[7]
    • Don’t worry if the circle isn’t perfect! Most of the time people don’t look directly at the sun, so they don’t really see a perfect circle.
    • If you want, you can give your sun a friendly smiley face.
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Method 2 Method 2 of 2:

Adding Details and Color

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  1. Step 1 Draw a palm tree for a tropical scene. 1 Draw a palm tree for a tropical scene. Use 2 long, vertical, slightly curved lines to draw the trunk of the palm tree. Draw the leaves like big feathers: make a curved line, and then a bunch of short lines coming off of it, all pointing downward.[8]
    • You can add as many palm trees as you want. Of course, if your beach is somewhere that doesn’t have palm trees, you don’t have to draw them.
    • Draw a little wiggly line under the palm tree to make it clear it’s standing on sand, not just floating.
    • Each tree has its own way of branching. The best way to study them is to start by looking for the overall mass and filling it in from there.[9]
    • If you want to draw realistic trees, remember that we do not see individual leaves from afar, so think of leaves as masses. The one place that we do see individual leaves is where the edge of the foliage meets the sky.[10]
  2. Step 2 Add a beach umbrella to make it look like people were there. 2 Add a beach umbrella to make it look like people were there. It might be tricky to actually draw people, but you can make the beach look full of life by adding in a beach umbrella. Use a slightly diagonal line to draw the pole coming out of the sand. Draw a curved line facing down for the umbrella, and a bunch of little connected curves for the bottom of the umbrella.[11]
    • You can add a beach towel underneath the towel by drawing a diamond. This will look like a tilted towel.
  3. Step 3 Sketch a boat in the water to add some fun detail. 3 Sketch a boat in the water to add some fun detail. Draw the hull of the boat by drawing a half circle, and then erasing the part that would be underneath the water. Then draw a straight line for the mast, and a triangle for the sail.[12]
    • If you want your boat to be really far away, you can draw it really tiny on the horizon.
  4. Step 4 Go over your pencil lines with pen and erase the pencil. 4 Go over your pencil lines with pen and erase the pencil. Take a pen or a marker and go over the lines that you want to keep in your drawing. You probably made a lot of extra wiggly lines when you were sketching with a pencil, and you don’t need to keep those in. Once you go over the pencil lines with pen, you can erase all the pencil lines.[13]
    • Make sure the ink has dried before you erase the pencil or your eraser will smudge the ink.
  5. Step 5 Color your picture with colored pencils, crayons, pastels, or markers. 5 Color your picture with colored pencils, crayons, pastels, or markers. You can use yellow or brown for the sand, brown for the palm tree trunks, and green for leaves. If your scene is in the day, color the sky a light blue and the ocean a slightly darker blue-green. If your scene is at sunrise or sunset, color the sky with stripes of color, and make those colors reflect a bit off the water too.[14]
    • Your ocean will look more realistic if you color it with multiple colors, like blue, green, and purple, instead of all one color.
    • You can color in your beach umbrella and beach towel bright colors like pink or yellow for some fun contrast!
  6. Step 6 Finished. 6 Finished.
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Community Q&A

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  • Question How can I draw a seashore on a rainy day? Community Answer Community Answer You can make the colors darker and add little raindrops. You should also put a lot more clouds in the sky and no sun. Thanks! We're glad this was helpful. Thank you for your feedback. If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow Yes No Not Helpful 56 Helpful 139
  • Question How does the water reflect? Community Answer Community Answer Use white or silver paint on the water to show a reflection. Thanks! We're glad this was helpful. Thank you for your feedback. If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow Yes No Not Helpful 74 Helpful 147
  • Question How do I make the leaves on the palm tree look good but make it faster and easier? Community Answer Community Answer Keep your wrist rigid and make zig-zag lines across the edges as detail. Though this won't be perfect, keep in mind that perfection takes time. Make sure that your pointed edges are 2 line "points" to avoid blocky leaves. Thanks! We're glad this was helpful. Thank you for your feedback. If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow Yes No Not Helpful 62 Helpful 100
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Video

Reader Videos

Tips

  • Add whatever you want to your beach scene! Consider birds, sandcastles, crabs, fish, beach balls, or people. Thanks Helpful 8 Not Helpful 5
  • Draw lightly in pencil so that you can easily rub out mistakes. Thanks Helpful 5 Not Helpful 5

Tips from our Readers

The advice in this section is based on the lived experiences of wikiHow readers like you. If you have a helpful tip you’d like to share on wikiHow, please submit it in the field below.
  • If you're drawing a sunset scene, position the sun in the middle of the page shown as a half circle. Make sure the sun's light reflects gently on the water's surface.
  • Use a light pencil first so you can erase mistakes. Pen is permanent, so only go over final lines with pen once you're happy with the sketch.
  • Take your time and don't give up if it takes a few tries. Relax and draw from the heart to make something you'll be proud of.
  • Shade areas like the water, sand, and sky to add dimension. Use cross-hatching, stippling or blending for great effects.
  • Logically think about the proportion of the sea compared to the beach/coast. Don't make the sea too small or too large.
  • Add fun details like birds, umbrellas, or beach towels to make your scene unique. Let your creativity shine!
Submit a Tip All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published Name Please provide your name and last initial Submit Thanks for submitting a tip for review! Advertisement

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References

  1. ↑ https://easydrawingguides.com/how-to-draw-a-beach-really-easy-drawing-tutorial
  2. ↑ https://easydrawingguides.com/how-to-draw-a-beach-really-easy-drawing-tutorial/
  3. ↑ https://youtu.be/-UYAeOEA1lY?t=145
  4. ↑ https://easydrawingguides.com/how-to-draw-clouds-really-easy-drawing-tutorial/
  5. ↑ Kelly Medford. Professional Artist. Expert Interview
  6. ↑ Kelly Medford. Professional Artist. Expert Interview
  7. ↑ https://youtu.be/W4M9f0NE1tc?t=149
  8. ↑ https://youtu.be/-UYAeOEA1lY?t=311
  9. ↑ Kelly Medford. Professional Artist. Expert Interview
More References (5)
  1. ↑ Kelly Medford. Professional Artist. Expert Interview
  2. ↑ https://easydrawingguides.com/how-to-draw-a-beach-really-easy-drawing-tutorial/
  3. ↑ https://youtu.be/W4M9f0NE1tc?t=129
  4. ↑ https://www.artistsnetwork.com/art-mediums/drawing/different-materials-affect-drawing-process/
  5. ↑ https://easydrawingguides.com/how-to-draw-a-beach-really-easy-drawing-tutorial/

About This Article

Kelly Medford Co-authored by: Kelly Medford Professional Artist This article was co-authored by Kelly Medford. Kelly Medford is an American painter based in Rome, Italy. She studied classical painting, drawing and printmaking both in the U.S. and in Italy. She works primarily en plein air on the streets of Rome, and also travels for private international collectors on commission. She founded Sketching Rome Tours in 2012 where she teaches sketchbook journaling to visitors of Rome. Kelly is a graduate of the Florence Academy of Art. This article has been viewed 577,219 times. 82 votes - 79% Co-authors: 40 Updated: March 10, 2025 Views: 577,219 Categories: Drawing Geography and Nature Article SummaryX

To draw a beach scene, start by drawing a horizontal line across the middle of your paper to make a horizon. Next, add a wavy line below the horizon, near the bottom of your paper for the edge of the water. Since the waves should look like they're coming at you, draw little horizontal squiggles in the water. Add some clouds and the sun or moon to finish the rough sketch of your scene. When you’re ready to draw some details, try adding trees, beach umbrellas, or boats. Finally, go over the pencil lines you want to keep with a pen, then erase any mistakes or extra lines. To learn how to add color to your picture, keep reading! Did this summary help you?YesNo

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Reader Success Stories

  • Mahleigh Hansen

    Mahleigh Hansen

    Nov 2, 2020

    "I love drawing! So I thought I could give this a shot! And the reason that I am telling you guys this, is to..." more
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Did this article help you?

Yes No Advertisement Cookies make wikiHow better. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Kelly Medford Co-authored by: Kelly Medford Professional Artist 82 votes - 79% Click a star to vote Co-authors: 40 Updated: March 10, 2025 Views: 577,219 Mahleigh Hansen

Mahleigh Hansen

Nov 2, 2020

"I love drawing! So I thought I could give this a shot! And the reason that I am telling you guys this, is to..." more Lizzy Adams

Lizzy Adams

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"I am doing a project at school to improve my soft skill. Mine was creativity, so I chose to be creative with..." more Diane Pendragon

Diane Pendragon

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"I'm in 6th grade and I won the drawing competition for the 6th time this year. You can see my rough drawing." Vijay Molawade

Vijay Molawade

Jan 6, 2017

"I learned from this some easy things for my kid drawing competition." Nazma Gainder

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May 28, 2017

"I had to draw a beach for a school project and I passed!" Rated this article: Share yours! More success stories Hide success stories

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