Home › Forums › Explore Media › Oil Painting › How to make a soft cloudy background
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October 1, 2018 at 12:41 am #462746
I was working on this russian soldier painting but this time I want to spend more time on background
As you can see most of the background is basically black to grey blending but in upper left these is this white clouds on a grey ground (texture) how can I make this look?
My plan is to first get the basic values right then just start blending titanium white on those parts to make clouds then splashing thinned white on it anyone have a suggestion?
Right now I’m still building up layers with acrylicOctober 1, 2018 at 2:39 am #703705Instead of using titanium, use zinc (since you are using acrylic). Zinc makes great clouds with acrylic because it’s transparent and so it doesn’t come off as chalky. Titanium isn’t and so it is much harder to control the transparency, at least, that’s how it was for me.
However, to me this looks like a digital painting, in which case textures are regularly imposed on a background as effects. It can be hard to duplicate them because it’s a different medium. If I were you, I would look into how falling snow has typically been represented with your own medium.
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https://www.facebook.com/haroldrothartistOctober 1, 2018 at 3:36 am #703709Instead of using titanium, use zinc (since you are using acrylic). Zinc makes great clouds with acrylic because it’s transparent and so it doesn’t come off as chalky. Titanium isn’t and so it is much harder to control the transparency, at least, that’s how it was for me.
However, to me this looks like a digital painting, in which case textures are regularly imposed on a background as effects. It can be hard to duplicate them because it’s a different medium. If I were you, I would look into how falling snow has typically been represented with your own medium.
Acrylic is just for under painting I would go over it with oil paint when I got values right
Actually I saw other people getting same results for their painting so I know it’s possible even though reference is digital
I have one tube of zinc white that i never used before thanks for telling me thatOctober 1, 2018 at 8:00 am #703706I do not use acrylic, but you could try the following:
Mix the dark background using Payne’s Grey, or Prussian Blue + Burnt Umber + Permanent Rose matching the area on the upper right.
Cover the entire canvas with this mixture. Once completely dry, mix white with your original grey recipe, and create several tones, trying to again match what see the picture. Scumble this on the now dried background, use a rag is necessary to clear make your cloudy effect.
October 1, 2018 at 11:39 am #703710I do not use acrylic, but you could try the following:
Mix the dark background using Payne’s Grey, or Prussian Blue + Burnt Umber + Permanent Rose matching the area on the upper right.
Cover the entire canvas with this mixture. Once completely dry, mix white with your original grey recipe, and create several tones, trying to again match what see the picture. Scumble this on the now dried background, use a rag is necessary to clear make your cloudy effect.
Acrylic was only for underpainting for next layer i would use oil
Thanks for the recipe I really like itOctober 1, 2018 at 2:59 pm #703708Not good with acrylics (possibly excepting the slow-drying kind), but OK with oils: You can paint a layer at the color of the clouds. When it is very dry, paint the dark layer above it. Then, quickly remove some of the dark paint where you want the clouds to be, using brushes, lintless rag, or something similar.
October 6, 2018 at 11:12 am #703707I found this video helpful. It’s acrylic, but I think it may still be useful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBbetvXh1nE&t=0s&index=54&list=PLhyb2HJJXCMbV1fnNFt1zsNSrya1LimKl
Pam
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