Waves – The 52-Week Art Project 2026

It’s week 34 of The 52-Week Art Project! This week’s prompt is Waves. I apologise for the late posting, I had a very busy weekend in the garden and so my health is slowing me down at the moment. As usual, I’ll be sharing my paintings here today, but you have the rest of the week to work on your creations.

I have 4 different wavy pieces this week! Below, I’ll explain the techniques and supplies I used on each one. I hope these posts are informative and interesting and that they will inspire you to have a go and get creative too!

The #CH52art Project Overview

• A creative project or those of us who can’t create daily, for whatever reason.
• There is 1 prompt per week to ​interpret in any way & take your time with.
• Use any medium (collage, clay, paint, photography, baking, knitting, lego, fabric, etc)
• You can skip a prompt anytime if needed, your wellbeing comes first. No stress here.
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• Share your creations to the gallery on my blog (optional) & be inspired by other creatives.

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I aim to post my creations at the start of the week, by Sunday evening or Monday morning. So I’m creating my pieces for each prompt one week in advance. That said, the gallery is always available, so you can browse or, if you’re participating, upload your creations, anytime.

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Wk34 Prompt: Waves

Wavy Lines – Gouache

Using the various blues already mixed on my palette, I just covered two pages with wavy lines. I was not feeling very energetic and didn’t know exactly what I wanted to paint yet.

The first one, being my least favourite, promptly got covered up in zen-doodles. The perfect activity to relax and unwind. Using a fineliner, I followed the contours of some of the wavy lines.

The spaces between the lines ended up very organic, thicker in some parts and thinner in others. This is perfect for zen-doodling, so I started dividing each one up into sections according to the patterns I wanted to draw in each space.

I did some of the patterns in stages so I could show you how they evolve. On the left you can see how the patterns evlove from bottom to top. On the right is how they looked after finishing the inking. I continued to fill the whole page with patterns before I moved onto shading.

I used a pale purple brush marker, blue coloured pencil and white paint pen to add shading and highlights to some of the shapes. This just added definition and contrast which makes the designs look less flat.

I have since changed the binding discs on this art journal and made this wavy page its new cover. I like to change things up every so often. Using disc bound journals makes this super easy to do.

Stylised Waves – Gouache

I decided I wanted to paint ocean waves in gouache, but I’d never painted the ocean before. So I decided to watch some tutorials or “paint with me” videos before attempting it. I watched a few different people painting waves or ocean scenes and this is what came of that.

It’s not my favourite piece, but I do like some parts and I learned quite a bit from it. I like how the sky looks like it’s glowing just above the horizon. This is also visible on the photo of the beach I posted above and something I incorporated into my next piece, below.

The sky closest to the horizon is slightly lighter and warmer than the sky higher up. To paint this sky, I just used a super watered down wash of some blue and orange mixtures I had on my palette.

For the waves, I learned how the colours layered over each other when using less water in the mix. I usually use my gouache much like watercolours (gouache is essentially more opaque watercolour), but this time I kept them thicker and drier. The paints behave differently, a bit more like acrylics, and it makes for some interesting textures and blends.

Also, I started using washi tape to protect the borders and create a clean white frame around my paintings again. I used to do this years ago, but when I returned to painting earlier this year, I forgot about this step. I do like the crisp white frames, but I might try using thinner tape, I feel like so much of the page becomes unusable with this size washi tape.

What do you prefer?

1. Crisp white borders using tape
2. Painting right up to the edge of the page
3. Leaving a painterly, uneven edge around the painting – letting the scene just fade out around the edges

Let me know in the comments below!

View From The Beach – Gouache

After that, I wanted to paint the view of waves from the perspective of somebody standing on the beach. I love how this one turned out, especially since it was a first try. I have some ideas on how I might improve for next time, but I’m pretty pleased with it.

I started with a watery wash for the sky, it’s really pale and I left that glowing horizon line again. Then, starting from the horizon line, I moved my way down the page, towards the beach. Using much less water and alternating the shades of blue. Here there is a combination of Prussian Blue and Cerulean Blue as well as quite a lot of Permanent White and maybe even a bit of Viridian mixed in.

After reaching the beach, I went back in with a fine brush and white gouache to paint the foamy bits on the waves and water surface. It was starting to come to life, the foam accents provided the necessary sense of movement.

I then used a blue coloured pencil to add fine shading under the foam, this added a measure of depth to the waves.

There are certain areas that I really love, and I’ll keep them in mind for my next attempt. Other parts are not my favourite and I’ll learn lessons from those too. My main issue is the wave in the center that looks like a lip. I think it could use a bit more detailing and also, if it weren’t the shape of a lip, that would be better.

Using a reference photo next time, like the one above, would be helpful too. I can’t wait to paint more ocean scenes!

Next Prompt, Wk35: Nautical Theme

Staying with the summer / seaside themes for another week, I might just end up attempting another ocean painting or maybe a harbour or some vessels. I’ll have to think about it some more and go find some inspiration.

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The #CH52art Summer Gallery 2026

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