Uploaded July 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
Learn how to paint these glorious sunkissed sand dunes in this full tutorial with Mark Waller. Create a stunning dune vista focussing on the incredible purple shadows and the nuance of afternoon light on tips of grasses. Learn how to create magic, depth, and a compelling image using simple concepts and simple composition while challenging and developing your skills with a brush.
Analyse how to paint those compelling, chaotic spinifex roots that bunch together at the front of dunes after a storm. Discover how those shapes create the illusion of undulations in sand, and how you can control this effect.
Explore just how many shades of purple you can put into a beachscape painting!
Materials needed for this tutorial:
Atelier Interactive Artists Acrylics:
Titanium White
Burnt Umber
Pthalo Blue
French Ultramarine Blue
Dioxazine Purple
Cadmium Yellow Medium
Forest Green
Fan brush - Size 4 (ie 4cm across the widest part of the bristles)
Synthetic flats - 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 (size relates to mm across the bristles)
Extras:
Chalk
water spray bottle
Canvas size:
portrait orientation
20” x 30”
50cm x 75cm
approximate
00:00 - What are we painting?
00:20 - Materials needed
00:33 - Pencilling in
00:59 - Mixing colour and painting the foliage
03:20 - Mixing colour and painting the first sky colour
04:36 - Mixing and painting the second sky colour
05:10 - Mixing and painting the dune and dune shadow colour
06:54 - Mixing and painting the first sand colour
08:00 - Mixing and painting the second sand colour
09:06 - Painting the top of the sand dunes
10:16 - re-establishing our background foliage darks
11:22 - adding a slightly lighter highlight colour to this area
12:25 - adding more highlights to this area
14:33 - adding even more highlights to this area
16:55 - adding detail to the treeline folliage on the very top of the dune
18:07 - re-establishing the sky
20:07 - creating that light on the treeline foliage
22:44 - re-establishing the shadow and detail in the sand dunes
26:32 - painting the casuarinas
28:15 - establishing some casuarina foliage trunks and branches
29:37- painting the pandanus
34:18 - adding pandanus highlights
35:12 - adding the highlights to the top of the sand dune
37:25 - painting the grasses lit by the sun
38:00 - adding grass and spinifex tendrils on the dune
41:00 - painting more depth into the face of the sand dunes
45:00 - adding some reflected colour into the face of the sand dunes
45:56 - creating more spinifex and scribbly grasses
48:57 - adding more realism in the face of the dune
50:56 - adding more dune grasses
53:34 - painting some deep grass shadows
54:59 - painting the lightest grass highlights
Join this channel to get access to perks:
youtube.com/channel/UCIzzJZa8_Obui-WGHgdUnng/join
For more great acrylic painting tips, techniques and tutorials to improve your painting processes, make sure you check out Mark's tutorial website at:
explore-acrylic-painting.com
For Mark's tutorial products including his Beachscapes Paint Recipe Book, downloadable and streamable DVDs on painting water and waves, painting "start to finish" downloadable tutorials (the V-Logs) and ebooklets, go to his shop here:
explore-acrylic-painting.com/shop.html
Want to look at Mark's available works? For limited edition prints and original paintings go to his art website at https://www.markwaller.com.au
In 2016 artist Mark Waller experienced a profound spiritual awakening driven by a near death experience. Having never really written before, he was suddenly and completely compelled to record his story by a force outside his experience and understanding.
His compelling journey of discovering universal “truths”, revelling in the divine mundane and the shocking reality of living with cancer is truly emotive, enlightening and poignant.
To order Mark's book "It's All About The Light": https://www.markwaller.com.au/mark-waller-books/its-all-about-the-light/its-all-about-the-light-shipping-now
For more info on upcoming workshops (or digital one-on-one lessons), go to:
explore-acrylic-painting.com/workshops.html
Mark uses Atelier Free Flow Artists Acrylics and Atelier Interactive Artists Acrylics by Chroma Australia.
Mark uses Micador for Artists Future and series 1300 brushes (amongst others, usually whatever is within reach). Micador is a fantastic Aussie company doing their best for the environment. For more info on their sustainability efforts see https://micador.com.au/green_earth
Thanks so much for watching! Make sure your subscribed for more videos, and hit that notification bell to get all the latest clips :D
Annnnnd, check out our stories via mobile or tablet too!
Facebook:
facebook.com/exploreacrylicpaintingcom
facebook.com/MarkWallerArtist
Instagram:
instagram.com/explore.acrylic.painting
Tikky Tokky:
tiktok.com/@explore.acrylics
Learn how to paint these glorious sunkissed sand dunes in this full tutorial with Mark Waller. Create a stunning dune vista focussing on the incredible purple shadows and the nuance of afternoon light on tips of grasses. Learn how to create magic, depth, and a compelling image using simple concepts and simple composition while challenging and developing your skills with a brush.
Analyse how to paint those compelling, chaotic spinifex roots that bunch together at the front of dunes after a storm. Discover how those shapes create the illusion of undulations in sand, and how you can control this effect.
Explore just how many shades of purple you can put into a beachscape painting!
Materials needed for this tutorial:
Atelier Interactive Artists Acrylics:
Titanium White
Burnt Umber
Pthalo Blue
French Ultramarine Blue
Dioxazine Purple
Cadmium Yellow Medium
Forest Green
Fan brush - Size 4 (ie 4cm across the widest part of the bristles)
Synthetic flats - 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 (size relates to mm across the bristles)
Extras:
Chalk
water spray bottle
Canvas size:
portrait orientation
20” x 30”
50cm x 75cm
approximate
00:00 - What are we painting?
00:20 - Materials needed
00:33 - Pencilling in
00:59 - Mixing colour and painting the foliage
03:20 - Mixing colour and painting the first sky colour
04:36 - Mixing and painting the second sky colour
05:10 - Mixing and painting the dune and dune shadow colour
06:54 - Mixing and painting the first sand colour
08:00 - Mixing and painting the second sand colour
09:06 - Painting the top of the sand dunes
10:16 - re-establishing our background foliage darks
11:22 - adding a slightly lighter highlight colour to this area
12:25 - adding more highlights to this area
14:33 - adding even more highlights to this area
16:55 - adding detail to the treeline folliage on the very top of the dune
18:07 - re-establishing the sky
20:07 - creating that light on the treeline foliage
22:44 - re-establishing the shadow and detail in the sand dunes
26:32 - painting the casuarinas
28:15 - establishing some casuarina foliage trunks and branches
29:37- painting the pandanus
34:18 - adding pandanus highlights
35:12 - adding the highlights to the top of the sand dune
37:25 - painting the grasses lit by the sun
38:00 - adding grass and spinifex tendrils on the dune
41:00 - painting more depth into the face of the sand dunes
45:00 - adding some reflected colour into the face of the sand dunes
45:56 - creating more spinifex and scribbly grasses
48:57 - adding more realism in the face of the dune
50:56 - adding more dune grasses
53:34 - painting some deep grass shadows
54:59 - painting the lightest grass highlights
Join this channel to get access to perks:
youtube.com/channel/UCIzzJZa8_Obui-WGHgdUnng/join
For more great acrylic painting tips, techniques and tutorials to improve your painting processes, make sure you check out Mark's tutorial website at:
explore-acrylic-painting.com
For Mark's tutorial products including his Beachscapes Paint Recipe Book, downloadable and streamable DVDs on painting water and waves, painting "start to finish" downloadable tutorials (the V-Logs) and ebooklets, go to his shop here:
explore-acrylic-painting.com/shop.html
Want to look at Mark's available works? For limited edition prints and original paintings go to his art website at https://www.markwaller.com.au
In 2016 artist Mark Waller experienced a profound spiritual awakening driven by a near death experience. Having never really written before, he was suddenly and completely compelled to record his story by a force outside his experience and understanding.
His compelling journey of discovering universal “truths”, revelling in the divine mundane and the shocking reality of living with cancer is truly emotive, enlightening and poignant.
To order Mark's book "It's All About The Light": https://www.markwaller.com.au/mark-waller-books/its-all-about-the-light/its-all-about-the-light-shipping-now
For more info on upcoming workshops (or digital one-on-one lessons), go to:
explore-acrylic-painting.com/workshops.html
Mark uses Atelier Free Flow Artists Acrylics and Atelier Interactive Artists Acrylics by Chroma Australia.
Mark uses Micador for Artists Future and series 1300 brushes (amongst others, usually whatever is within reach). Micador is a fantastic Aussie company doing their best for the environment. For more info on their sustainability efforts see https://micador.com.au/green_earth
Thanks so much for watching! Make sure your subscribed for more videos, and hit that notification bell to get all the latest clips :D
Annnnnd, check out our stories via mobile or tablet too!
Facebook:
facebook.com/exploreacrylicpaintingcom
facebook.com/MarkWallerArtist
Instagram:
instagram.com/explore.acrylic.painting
Tikky Tokky:
tiktok.com/@explore.acrylics
