How To Paint Clouds With Acrylic

Larn How To Paint Clouds.

Diminish The Daunts.

Discover a uncomplicated and powerful strategy to uncomplicate
the procedure.

Painting clouds tin either exist a subtle addition or a major office of a finished painting.

The problem with learning how to paint clouds, is that there are so many subtle variables (and sometimes non so subtle!). They tin can either appear "solid", or soft and nebulous. This can be a large stopping point if yous're learning to paint clouds.

Let'southward look at some strategies to simplify some of the data.

Firstly let's look at a very simple fluffy cloud on a clear solar day. If you wait closely, you will generally notice that they have some lighter and darker areas.

The start step to learning how to paint clouds is similar to learning to paint more than solid objects. The departure is ofttimes only a much lighter affect.

The trick is to offset your darks, and slowly build the highlights on top.

How to Paint Clouds Exercise:

Materials Needed:

Canvas or other painting surface .

Brushes:

A relatively soft, medium sized chisel (eg approximately i.5cm wide)

Paint:

White

French Ultramarine Blue

Burnt Umber

I utilise Artists quality acrylic paints by Chroma Australia, Atelier Interactive and Atelier Gratis Flow.

I recommend keeping it simple. Stay with either a warm blue or a cool blue.

In this do I'thou using a warm, French Ultramarine Blue.

Paint a sheet, a lovely stake blue colour. Paint a gradation if y'all like.

how to paint clouds tutorial with Mark Waller

Mix a little chip of Burnt Umber, and a touch of French Ultramarine Blueish, and a big pile of White.

This grey volition make the shadows on the underside of your cloud.

Clean most of the paint off your brush. Apply the paint gently and loosely, and replicate the random shapes of a cloud.

Add together some white to that grey. Apply this color above the shaded area, bringing it down into the darker grey.

how to paint clouds tutorial with Mark Waller

Repeat this process.

You may eventually wish to recreate those beautiful fluffy white clouds.

Yous'll need to make clean your brush, and utilise pure White. As before, blend it downwardly into the greyed areas, and gently pull it beyond into the sky blueish.

You need to use a very soft paw. I recommend applying moisturiser on a regular basis. (That was only to come across if y'all were listening.

how to paint clouds tutorial with Mark Waller

I don't actually practice that. It doesn't matter if your hands are soft or not. Probably "gentle" would've been a better discussion to use. Ah well, as well late now).

That's the offset step in learning how to paint clouds. Only we all know that it'due south not that uncomplicated!

1 of the most compelling things about learning how to paint clouds is creating the illusion of a sunset or sunrise.

how to paint clouds tutorial with Mark Waller

Unless you accept a strategy, information technology can be a trivial daunting (but oh so rewarding!).

This is another strategy that I use to brand painting sunrises and sunsets much more unproblematic.

How to Paint Clouds Demonstration:

I'g going to pigment a sunset over copse. There's light bouncing around everywhere, and all sorts of unlike shifts in tone and hue. I demand to simplify.

Hither we go:

On a loosely roughed in canvas, I pigment in the darkest areas of the clouds, using Dioxazine Regal, Cadmium Yellowish Medium and a bear on of French Ultramarine Bluish, and White.

how to paint clouds tutorial with Mark Waller

These darkest areas will be the furthest away from the light source.

I now mix a highlight, using the previous mix of color, but leaving out the French Ultramarine Blue.

I paint this where I think the light volition hit the dark deject.

This highlight then becomes the night area on the next prepare of clouds closest to the light source.

how to paint clouds tutorial with Mark Waller

I mix up a new highlight for this ready of clouds.

This one has less Dioxazine Purple in it. It then becomes the darker area on the adjacent set of clouds closest to the lite source.

Can you see a pattern emerging?

how to paint clouds tutorial with Mark Waller

I repeat this process, gradually eliminating most of the Dioxazine Purple (and calculation a tiny impact of Napthol Ruddy Calorie-free).

By the time I'm closest to the light source, the highlights volition exist nearly white.

But said: the highlights on the last deject become the shadows on the next ane.

The premise behind this, is that the closer you go to the light source, the warmer and paler the clouds volition become.

how to paint clouds tutorial with Mark Waller

This is a nifty place to start. Equally usual, don't cede your observational skills, and make sure you make adjustments to suit the piece yous're doing.

This strategy however, tin can still be used in hundreds of different skies.

how to paint clouds tutorial with Mark Waller

The only divergence being variances in colour and tone.

Yay! Now become and paint!

You tin check out this demonstration

"Over The Shoulder"

in live moving colour, correct here!!

(NB: smellovision non available in this region, thank goodness)

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