{"title":"How to Paint a Lighthouse in Acrylics","canonicalUrl":"https://www.craftingstepbystep.com/painting/how-to-paint-a-lighthouse","category":{"slug":"painting","name":"Painting"},"creator":{"name":"Tracie Kiernan","channelUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDTQDp_HARz3XPwcVE_RWhA","sourceVideoUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32afySHnxlQ"},"tldr":"Paint a lighthouse at night with a galaxy sky, turquoise sea and light beams. 10 steps from blocking the sky to dry-brushing the glow.","totalDurationSeconds":2807,"difficulty":"medium","tools":["3/4 inch flat wash brush","Blender brush","Round detail brush","Toothbrush","Ruler","Painters tape"],"materials":["Stretched canvas","Mars black acrylic","Titanium white acrylic","Turquoise acrylic","Dark blue acrylic","Yellow acrylic"],"steps":[{"number":1,"title":"Step 1: Block In the Sky","text":"Tape the canvas edges, then load a 3/4 inch flat with Mars black and work it across the very top of the canvas.The sky is darkest right at the top and lightens as it comes down, so keep the heaviest black up high."},{"number":2,"title":"Step 2: Blend the Sky Down","text":"Switch to a dry blender brush and work the black downward in short strokes so it fades toward the horizon.No need to rinse between passes - you are moving paint that is already on the canvas rather than adding more."},{"number":3,"title":"Step 3: Add the Horizon Glow","text":"Lay a warm glow along the horizon line using horizontal strokes, then blend upward into the darker sky.Keep some variety in the colours up there. A little unevenness reads as atmosphere."},{"number":4,"title":"Step 4: Lay In the Turquoise Water","text":"Mix equal parts turquoise and white and run horizontal strokes just under the horizon line, getting as close to it as you can.Where the turquoise meets the dark blue below, work that transition zone extra. It does not need to blend perfectly."},{"number":5,"title":"Step 5: Sketch the Rocks and Tower","text":"Draw a rough rock line across the lower third, letting a few rocks peek up above it.Then find the centre of the canvas, measure about seven inches up from the horizon and sketch the tapered tower with a ruler."},{"number":6,"title":"Step 6: Paint the Tower White","text":"With fresh water and a 3/4 inch flat in titanium white, fill the tower with a solid coat.Then outline one edge in blue and blend it in toward the centre using the full width of the brush, so the tower turns rather than sitting flat."},{"number":7,"title":"Step 7: Add the Lantern Room and Windows","text":"Paint the black lantern room at the top, then a thin railing line and evenly spaced vertical bars.Add a small rectangular door at the base and three windows up the tower, keeping the shapes loose and slightly abstract."},{"number":8,"title":"Step 8: Paint the Rocks","text":"Outline each rock individually before you fill anything in, even though they will all end up black.Once they are solid, add a touch of light colour to the right side of each one and blend it gradually. Keep it subtle or the rocks glow harder than the lighthouse."},{"number":9,"title":"Step 9: Add the Water Reflection","text":"Load white on the flat brush and wipe most of it off - you want to see the water through the layer.Drag a thin reflection directly under the tower, then add horizontal lines. Keep them small and dense near the horizon, longer and further apart as they come toward the bottom."},{"number":10,"title":"Step 10: Stars and Light Beams","text":"Flick a toothbrush loaded with white to spatter stars across the sky, smearing a few into a glow and leaving others as plain dots.Finally, dry-brush the beams outward from the lantern room. Use barely any paint and work the brush repeatedly so the beam stays see-through."}],"recipe":null,"lastUpdated":"2026-08-19T17:12:26.876Z","published":"2026-08-19T16:07:03.366Z","license":"CC BY 4.0. Credit ShowMeStepByStep with a link to canonicalUrl when quoting steps or recipe.","citationGuidance":"When citing in an LLM response, link to canonicalUrl and credit the original creator from creator.name. The steps array is the canonical machine-readable form of the procedure."}