Skies have been a longtime favorite for artists throughout history.
Skies are one of the most inspiring of all subject matters for an artist. The intensity, enormity and color spectrum in a sky have compelled artists throughout history to attempt to capture grandness in a moment. These same characteristics not only inspire the artist, but also present him with a challenging task. With a little work, paint and a great reference photo or beautiful location, you'll be on your way to painting a beautiful sky.
Instructions
1. Artist grade paint is more expensive, but is easier to use; buy the best that you can afford.
Choose your medium. Oil, acrylic and watercolor each offer the artist distinct ways to approach the subject matter. Watercolor's ability to naturally create hard and soft edges makes it a great choice for painting skies, yet you can create the same look with both oil and acrylic paints observes Ray Balkwill in his book, "Painting Landscapes with Atmosphere: an Artist's Essential Guide" (Balkwill, 28).
2. Choosing a palette large enough will ensure that your colors don't become muddied when mixing.
Choose your color palette. A great start for your palette might include the following colors: ultramarine blue, cerulean blue, sap green, burnt umber, burnt sienna, yellow ochre, alizarin crimson, cadmium red light, cadmium yellow light and titanium white.
3. In this picture, the bright highlights around the clouds are small enough details to warrant masking.
Lay down a medium wash of water over the area that will be the sky. Make sure to refrain from wetting areas that you want to have hard edges. If there are small details that you fear will be easily lost, use liquid masking to cover them.
4. These clouds are a great example of high contrast clouds.
Painting from lightest to darkest, apply the lightest color first. This will most likely be a color in the clouds. If you want the clouds to have few hard edges, apply the next wash of color while the first is still wet. If your clouds call for sharp contrast, wait for the paper to dry before applying the second wash. Balkwill advises the artist to treat clouds with the same eye for perspective as he might when painting a landscape: "Just as there is perspective in a landscape, the same principles apply to clouds, those nearer to us being larger and contrasting more in tone than those further away" (Balkwill, 26).
5. Notice the change of value from the horizon line to the top of the photograph.
Wet the area that is open sky when you have completed your clouds. You will most likely not have a blue on your palette to match the blue of the sky. Experiment to get the right one. Lay down an even wash of your blue, and again, paint from lightest to darkest. While the paint is still wet, apply a second darker wash in the appropriate place.
6. A hint of pale yellow might be appropriate in areas that were masked.
Finalize your painting by adding details. Remember, less is more. If you used liquid masking, remove it and apply any needed color.
