This Photoshop tutorial will show you how to complete an underwater landscape painting step by step. This is part one of a two part series. Seascape Painting Part II will show you how to draw the fishes and apply finishing touches to the painting.
This Photoshop tutorial will show you how to complete an underwater landscape painting step by step. This is part one of a two part series. Seascape Painting Part II will show you how to draw the fishes and apply finishing touches to the painting.

*This tutorial was meant to be completed using a pen tablet. If you are using a mouse, the brush sizes will be irrelevant. However, a good estimate for brush sizes when using a mouse is about 1/3 the size of the brush I am using.
Open a new project (16 x 20 inches, 300 pdi).

Use color #0095A2 and the paint bucket tool to fill in the background layer with a teal blue.

Make a new layer titled “ocean floor” above the background.

Block in the ocean foreground with color #A87300 (261 pixels, opaque, hard edged round brush).

Indicate the major shadows with color #926400 and the same brush.

Highlight the floor with color #AF7800.

Make a new layer “coral” above the other layers.
