Skies and Clouds — June–July 2012 Monthly Class

CharM · #1 05-30-2005, 08:51 AM

I've looked at clouds from both sides now,
From up and down, and still somehow,
It's cloud illusions I recall,
I really don't know clouds, at all.

Hi everyone! Joni Mitchell's song always comes to mind when I'm thinking about painting skies... and clouds... I felt it was a very fitting opening to this month's Classroom...

We'll be trying something a little different this month... Because I'm just learning how to paint landscapes (which require skies!

), I won't actually be teaching this class...

Instead, I'm calling for volunteers to demonstrate how they paint skies... There are many of your out there! We've all oooohed and awhhhhed at your beautiful work...

I'd love to see some WIP's, submitted into this thread as the Classroom tutorial... Everyone is welcome to share their techniques...

THEN, for the students (including me! ), we'll be able to post our homework in the Homework thread... I'll set it up in a day or so...

In the meantime, here are some links to study...

Clouds, My Way by Rod Webb

Clouds, A Light in the Sky

Stormy Skies

Sky Doodles by Peter Saw

Clouds by John Lovett

I, recently, purchased the book Watercolour Landscapes by Richard Taylor (ISBN 1-84340-193-2) (published by Collins & Brown) that has an excellent section on painting skies and clouds (78 pages!)...

Quote:

Hi Everyone! This month we are bringing back one of our Topics from several years ago that we thought you might enjoy trying. Please use this Homework Thread to add your techniques for painting skies and clouds, your questions, and sky paintings.

Thanks to Char for letting us reuse her excellent tutorial from 2005.

Sylvia

Note: I will edit out any posts that are not on the subject of painting skies to shorten the tutorial and keep it on topic.

CharM · #2 05-30-2005, 09:41 PM

Hi Mary and Barb... I'm so very grateful to both of you for volunteering! Barb, I tried to send you a pm, but your mailbox is full... lol...

If you would go to the trouble of photographing each step as you paint it, and then post the entire wip in this thread, we should be able to keep each volunteer's work as a unit... It will make a wonderful addition to our Handbook at the end of the month...

For members wishing to participate, I'll be starting a Homework thread tomorrow so that you can begin to ask questions if you have any... and that thread will be the place to post our homework and discussion...

tigre255 · #3 05-31-2005, 10:47 AM

OK here is my contribution. Please be kind, I'm a little rusty.....

First I drew in my horizon line and wet the sky area with water from an old Windex bottle. I like this type of bottle because it sprites better than most.

Then I mixed up my sky color which is Cerulean Blue and (here it comes) Indigo Blue.

Then I started dropping in my sky color a little here and there and let it do it's own thing.

Before it is dry I take a paper towel. And I only use Viva as it is solf and has the texture of cloth. I use it to remove some color. Now you have to keep using a clean spot on the paper towel so that you don't keep adding in color.

Here I added some Gold Ochra (sp) to the bottom of the sky for the sun set affects. Of course you will probably need to re wet the paper from the horizon line up. I usually turn my sheet upside down to do this part.

Now I start to mix a bit of Sap green and Gold Ochra to make my greens for my distant trees. I do these while my sky is still wet at the horizon line.

Now the rest is just made up and I'll attach them to help with the uploading for those with dial-up, as this is just a sky demo. But thought you would like to see the completed painting. All i did was add a couple of big trees and some foreground. Oh and btw this is not from a ref. photo, strickly out of my own tiny little mind. You'll also see in one of the attactments that I brought out my "Funny Brush" just for the heck of it. Use it on the tree on your right. Wasn't to successful though. LOL

ElizabethAnne · #4 05-31-2005, 12:28 PM

Barbara,

Two questions...

1. When you lift the paint, is the paper now just barely damp because the pigment and water is being sucked out, or are you trying to just take the pigment with as little water as possible? I haven't been able to figure out how much water should be wicked out from seeing the demo's in books.

And when you say this: "Of course you will probably need to re wet the paper from the horizon line up. I usually turn my sheet upside down to do this part." in photo 5, have you let the first wash dry completely and then re-wet? Do you lightly spray it or use a brush to put down the water?

Thanks for the demo and love your piece!

ElizabethAnne

tigre255 · #5 05-31-2005, 02:13 PM

ElizabethAnne, when I'm lifting the paint with the paper towel I try to do it while the paper and paint is still pretty wet or the paint wont lift. It's works best on Arches paper. It can be hard to do with certain other papers. I would probably use a test strip of paper and practice first to make sure that the paint will lift. Also with the paper being so wet the paint will also try to run back into the area lifted. All you do if daub at it again with a clean part of your paper towel. That also helps give you some soft edges to your clouds. Most of it is timing really. Some times it works and some times it doesn't.

As for your second question. When I turn my paper upside down I wet the horizon with a brush so no water gets into the part that I don't want. And on this one the blue part of the sky was still wet. I just applied my gold ochra pretty wet and held the paper up from the botton and let it run a bit toward the blue and clouds.

I hope this answers you questions, if not let me know.

**artman42** · #6 05-31-2005, 03:19 PM

Hi everyone, i thought go next , Fist i wet my paper and then lay in a wash of Cobalt Blue not all the way too the hoz. That is phase 1 and Phase 2

Phase 1 Wetting Paper Frist with flat brush

Phase 2 i put the color down not all the way down i leave space for clouds at the bottom.

Then i dab lightly with tissue for a clouds

phase 3

Then u let it dry, so thats how i do skys , Any questions feel free too ask .. phase 4

lpb · #7 05-31-2005, 09:12 PM

Thank you Char for choosing this topic! I can't wait to get started!
Barbara, is there a reason that you wet your paper from a spray bottle, rather than using a brush? Thanks.

tigre255 · #8 05-31-2005, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lpb

Thank you Char for choosing this topic! I can't wait to get started!
Barbara, is there a reason that you wet your paper from a spray bottle, rather than using a brush? Thanks.

You could use a brush, I have at times, but the spray bottle give me less water to move around. But either way is ok to do. You just want more water in uneven patches so that the clouds are easier to dab out. I find when I use my brush I tend to get to much water on my paper. But thats just me.

ElizabethAnne, yes there is suppose to be a homework thread. I think Char was waiting till tomorrow so that it will be June.......

CharM · #9 05-31-2005, 10:04 PM

You guys are great! Thanks so much Barb and Jim for such quick posts! Your wips are fantastic! The steps are well defined and your photos help a lot! Don't I just wish I'd had this before I did my last landscape effort!!!

Let's please confine the Classroom Thread to the Wips that our volunteers are posting... I love and appreciate your enthusiasm Painter People... that's what makes this such a great Forum!

Giving credit where credit is due, this isn't my idea but Doug's! It's so good to be able to trust him to come up with such good ideas in support of our Classrooms!

ware4 · #10 06-01-2005, 12:59 AM

Ok here is my contribution so far. There could be more who knows.
Skies are great because they are filled with fluid dynamics, the same principles that govern watercolor. This is the perfect time to paint on wet paper and let the water do its magic.

This is based on my "Bovine Sunset" painting. http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=272281
I will put the reference in the RIL. You are all welcome to have a go at this.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/RefLib/show...hp?photo=48204

I have found a few colors that really work well together in skies.
I use W&N cobalt blue and French Ultramarine. Also Cadmium Red and Cadmium Orange. Sometimes I throw in some Burnt Umber or Burnt Sienna or Raw Sienna.
I also use Quindacridone Rose from M Graham. The others granulate in ways that other brands don't, so I have stuck with W&N. Cad Red and FUB work particularly well together to create a delicate purplish color.
Here I have mixed my two blues. I have also mixed some Cad Red and Cad orange.

I stretched the paper because buckling is my current arch enemy. Then after a simple line drawing, I wet it with a mister and hake brush. This prewetting is just to slow down the drying so I can work into the sky wash. It will also smooth the initial graded wash through diffusion.
When the sheen has left the paper I begin with my blues adding water and some cad red. Then some cad red and ornge mix. At the horizon I threw in some Quin.

I come back in while the sky is still wet and begin with some faint wispy clouds Cad Red and FUB. Then I work the large cloud mass. It really should have had more of a red edge to catch the sunlight. I come back in before all this dries and add some thicker darks over top.

After that I do the grass while the paper is still a little damp. Then the hills. Then when every thing is dry, cows and trees.

beebluefern · #11 06-01-2005, 04:09 AM

I have three photos of clouds that I want to contribute here...two were taken on one of those "Really Great Clouds" day and the other is a sunrise on a lake in the UP...mist is just rising. I'd love to see someone tackle those three. Meantime, I have some tips of my own about skies when plein air painting and will post them when I get some photos...I will be having a planned session in a couple of weeks and can get someone to photograph for me whilst I paint! I'm hoping for some fabulous skies...and no rain so I can be outdoors!

VeldaJ · #12 06-01-2005, 02:35 PM

Hi, I'm not going to attempt to show how I paint skies - for me they're always a hit and miss affair and I shall be following this months class with interest and perhaps even try to join in if I can scrape the time.

We don't often get good sunsets here in Elland but this really caught my attention and I got a couple of reasonable photos. If it's of any use you are all welcome to attempt to recreate it or use it as a reference in any way you want.

Ottersong · #13 06-01-2005, 05:06 PM

OOOOHHH Velda, neat skies, thanks.

Here is how I do clouds, it is a little different and much tighter than the other loose ones but you can go back in and adjust color as needed once you get the basic sky done.
Basic colors that I use are mostly transparent pigments that stain.
Thalo blue, Quinacridone magenta and violet. quinacridone sienna,dioxazine purple,lemon yellow and raw sienna. I am using arches 140# CP paper, Papaer seems to make a big difference with this technique.

First I lightly drew the foreground landscape keeping in mind that I want a very low horizon since this is a cloud painting so the foreground doesn't have much interest. I do not draw in the cloud shapes as the pencil will show through. Clouds can be drawn from memory but it is best to use a photo that has the light at the angle that you want, much easier to place the shadows that way. Then masque any objects in the foreground that you want to keep light such as this grey dead tree.

Now wet your sky area staying out of your foreground. Let the shine go out of it and then re-wet it and let the shine leave again. Now make a small puddle of thalo blue with just a tad of lemon yellow in it so it is sort of a robins egg blue, very thin, also a puddle of your thalo blue for the top of the sky. Starting at the bottom lightly out in the robins egg and turn the paper around and start putting in the sky , litening it with a bit if water as you work your way down to the blue. let the shine almost go out of it.

Now comes the important part.....dampen a kleenex type of facial tissue, not getting it soppy. You are going to lift out the clouds at this point.If it is too wet the color will bleed back in, if it is too dry the clouds won't lift. If the color bleeds back in just keep using the damp tissue until it quits bleeding. While the paper is still damp use dilute violots and blues for the cloud shadows and just a little bit of raw sienna on the whitest part of the clous, you should hardly be able to see it. Now let it dry, I do not use a hair dryer at this point as the paint is still moving just slightly, when it is dry enough you can finish drying it with a hair dryer or wait until the next day so the core of the paper is good and dry.

If you feel that your cloud shadows need strengthening, wet the paper the same as in the beginning and add more shadow colors. You can do this as many times as you want.

Here is almost the finish, My foreground went a little strong on me so I need to go back in and darken the cloud shadows and finish the tree, that is the only drawback to using staining colors, they are hard to remove. I will post the final one this evening.

I hope you enjoy trying this method, Otter

Ottersong · #14 06-02-2005, 03:20 AM

Finally finished, wish I had made a lower foreground and a smaller tree

I darkened the sky so it is more like the desert sky and darkend some of the cloud shadows. Not my best work but it is ok.

Otter

Nandie · #15 06-03-2005, 02:52 AM

I haven't had time to lift a paintbush since Christmas, but I saved photos of the stages of a painting I did last year of a sailboat on the ocean, with a stormy-looking sunset:

The sailboat and ocean spray are masked ahead of time, and I started by applying a very light, flat wash of Winsor yellow across the whole sky area, and sand on the foreground (the sand is wet so it reflects the sky). After the flat wash was dry, I used a pump-spray bottle to spray water droplets around the sky. Then I dropped stronger shades of yellow (New Gamboge + Winsor Yellow, sometimes adding a bit of Quin Orange) into the areas where I sprayed water. When you let it dry, you get really neat edges simulating clouds. Let it dry and repeat the process until you like it. I leave the centre of the sky, closest to the horizon, with just the flat first wash so it remains lighter than the rest and draws attention to the boat.

When the yellow is COMPLETELY DRY, do the same again (spray with water, drop in paint) with purple or blue around the perimiter to simulate darker clouds. If your yellow isn't completely dry at this stage, it will mix with the purple/blue to make mud. Repeat with more purples/blues until you are satisfied. Don't mix the purple & blue on your pallette.... let the colors swirl and mix on the painting... you get more interesting clouds that way.

Here's how it looks when all the layers are dry:

Detail:

See how the first light wash of yellow behind the boat adds depth to the horizon?
Hope that helps....sorry I don't have more photos demonstrating the water spray technique, but I'm sure you get the idea! The most important thing to get this effect is to use the spray bottle to spray on the water, then DROP the colors in to the droplets. Let dry and add layers until you like it. Back-runs are a GOOD THING. It's easy to get carried away.... less is generally more.

Salute to our Partners