From up and down, and still somehow,
It's cloud illusions I recall,
I really don't know clouds, at all.
(Joni Mitchell)
I've been thinking about clouds. And painting skies. Some of you PPFers paint the most amazing skies! I think this is a skill I want to learn. So here is my attempt at painting clouds...doesn't make for a very exciting journal page/painting but it takes practice, right? I tried these in my Walking in my World journal, using watercolours and some acrylic white paint for the clouds.
Clear sky with a few clouds (poor scan...)
Unusual cloud in Orlando (which always seems to have the most amazing clouds...)
Do you have any tricks for painting clouds? Want to share your secrets?
Have a great time at Paint Party Friday!
Great clouds. I used metallics and interference on my sunset clouds. Seemed to give them some depth.
ReplyDeleteI think they are great clouds. I do a lot of circles with whites, lights blues, oranges and they still come out terrible. Tee hee. I like yours. No tricks have I. Happy PPF!
ReplyDeleteGuess I've never really tried to paint clouds. Your clouds look beautiful, and I am digging the telephone poles in the last photo!
ReplyDeleteYeah, clouds are difficult....
ReplyDeletethese are wonderful
ReplyDeletei think it is a grand idea to practice skies.... there are always backgrounds to fill in our art.
Love your clouds, Eva, I like to collage clouds :)
ReplyDeleteWe used to live down in Jupiter and the clouds down there were amazing too... clouds are tricky and all I can say is keep at it... these are a great start xx
ReplyDeletei love that joni mitchell song! i know what you mean-skies are hard to get right but i think your two examples are looking good!
ReplyDeleteHow can white fluff be so difficult!!! Clouds drive me a bit crazy(ier), I usually (if I rally HAVE to put in a cloud, do a bit of deeper grey, sploge here & then sort of do a dry brush with white keeping the ends sort of wispy & building up a few 'whiter bits here & there, so it gets a little depth... by the way, your results are great, happy PPF!
ReplyDeleteIt's beautiful! You're doing great! :)
ReplyDeleteI think you did a great job. Clouds are my favourite thing!
ReplyDeleteI blend three shades so that they aren't quite mixed, white, cerulean and naples yellow (more blue than anything else), use a 1" paintbrush and swirl the paint around. Then I come back and add more individual shades over the top depending on whether I want a stormy or sunny sky. love, love, love painting skies :)
Painting clouds is always a pleasant task, are never the same ... your first drawing with twigs sticking to the left is that I like. Saludos
ReplyDeleteI don't have any tricks for painting them, but I always take photos of interesting skies, because someday I intend to use them as reference.
ReplyDeleteLove how you got the dark shadows on the bottoms of the clouds in your skies.
Your clouds came out great! I am not too good, I just try to leave em white then dab in dark around the edges and hope the watercolors behave and do their own wonderful stuff on their own as they dry!Deb
ReplyDeleteFantastic! Clouds are just awesome! :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat clouds ~ they are not easy to do ~ you did! ~thanks, namaste, Carol (Share the Creative Journey) Happy PPF
ReplyDeleteI think you're off to a great start- I LOVE your Orlando sky!
ReplyDeleteIt's been a really long time since I painted clouds, but I think what I did was build layers of neutrals created by mixing a tint of the sky color and THAT color's compliment (ex; violet/blue- yellow/orange) and adding swirls of white layered into the neutral...that was REALLY hard to put in words, and I just hope it made some kind of sense!
Good for you!!! I've never figured out how to capture the cloud look... these are really awesome and show off your talent
ReplyDeleteOh wonderful...I love cloud formations in a bight sky...Today I took pics of my pretty fall trees with the sky and clouds in the corner of the shot too
ReplyDelete- KAT -
Wow, I think you've already learned how to do clouds! Especially love the lower one. Faye
ReplyDeleteWonderful clouds!
ReplyDeleteI often am inspired by the cloud-scapes I see.
Interference paints would be fun to play with in these. :)
Thank you for hosting PPF again! I love it!
Happy PPF!!
Mary
Mixed-Media Map Art
I don't have any tricks. But I was watching an artist paint clouds once and he started all of his clouds with flat bottoms. I never tried it though.
ReplyDeleteLoving that song. Happy PPF, great clouds, its always practice practice practice isn't it and of course loads of time......x
ReplyDeleteYours are coming along quite nicely!! ~Happy Paint Party Friday! #61 Robin Panzer Art Studio 33
ReplyDeleteThe easiest clouds are watercolor... you put a wash of blue sky and while it's still wet but not soaked you dab the clouds off with a very soft tissue or a harder paper towel, depending on the look of the cloud you want(soft or hard edges) then when it's dry you can go back and add a touch of gray at the bottom of the cloud for shading. Simple!
ReplyDeleteYour clouds are good. I find them very difficult to paint! Valerie
ReplyDeletenice job on the clouds and sky!
ReplyDeleteI live in Florida too!! Love your cumulonimbus clouds!! (Yep....science geek here. lol)
ReplyDeleteOh, and I meant to answer your question... I don't have a sisterhood sketchbook right now, I believe the one I should be getting is held up a few people back from me...so I'll have a little break!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous clouds..i think they are fabulous...beautiful work! I dont know how to paint them..but i try! I think yours are stunning!
ReplyDeleteVictoria
Great goal and beautiful skies.
ReplyDeleteThis is my favorite song by Joni Mitchell!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I don't have any secrets to tell you for painting clouds, but I do like your clouds, they look great. The second one make me think of a storm brewing up.
Wonderful paintings of cloud...floating and dreaming!
ReplyDeleteYour clouds are lovely from all sides! I love Joni Mitchell...I do the same as you,darker at the bottom and going lighter as I go up. The top I keep all white.
ReplyDeletereally cool Orlando clouds. love the perspective the telephone poles add to the whole painting.
ReplyDeleteLovely clouds Eva. Some use the trick of lifting colors using watercolor painting. For example you apply washes of blue then you use a fairly dump brush to lift the color and create fluffy like clouds. Remember to wash your brush clean each time you lift a portion of colors off. Hope it helps!
ReplyDeletePractice, Practice, Practice, Love the added tree and telephone poles in the pics. We get some really different clouds here in So. FL. Blessings, Janet PPF
ReplyDeleteGreat clouds. I think it is wonderful to challenge yourself to learn something new!!
ReplyDeleteSorry I can't help you with any cloud painting tricks but it doesn't look like you need the. Your clouds are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteyour clouds are nicer than mine so i can't give you any tricks! thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeletehugs,
peggy aplSEEDS
Gorgeous. Cool idea to focus on one aspect and learn as much as you can about it.
ReplyDeleteYour Orlando cloud is spot on!
ReplyDeleteThat's the perfect theme song for you, Eva! Also this poem...
ReplyDeleteThe Swing
BY ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!
Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
Rivers and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside—
Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown—
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!
If you exchange swing with plane.
I think your clouds are really really good. That last painting blew me away! ♥♥♥
Wonderful clouds my dear! Happy PPF!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful clouds! I love the touch of purple you added to the second one!!
ReplyDeleteAs for ideas, a lady that I took some watercolor classes from had a wonderful technique that she used. She wet the paper except for the areas and shapes she wanted to be clouds. She would then drop blues and other colors into the wet part and pick up the paper and move it around to blend the colors (around the clouds). The effect was so nice! I'm still trying to get the hang of it!! :)
I think you're doing a great job with your clouds -- your colors are especially nice in the lower painting. I'm better at doing clouds with watercolor because I can let the water help me get a flowy, soft look. I don't think there's one right way to do clouds -- just look at them, study what you see & paint them with shading to give them dimension. And do exactly what you're doing, which is to practice. :)
ReplyDeleteEva these are great! I too like to paint clouds but don't really have any tricks to share. Happy PPF! :)
ReplyDeletemmmmm, I love clouds. I am enjoying looking the clouds you have painted here and like your contrast of an open sky with lightly painted clouds and the mysterious one you see in Orlando. I think clouds can be a challenge to paint, but you've done a wonderful job. I admire the shadow int the second paintings' clouds--all the different values and hues.
ReplyDeleteYour skies are great!
ReplyDeletethank you for visiting my blog