Learn to draw by Tissa Hewavitarane

Painting skies and clouds

Clear skies are generally darker above and lighter as they approach the horizon. Clouds generally get smaller as they approach the horizon and have a luminous quality (not solid) and lighter in value than the Earth. Skies can be soft or crisp, light or dark, designed to appear natural. Clear skies are made with graded washes (dark above, light below) and should never be flat looking because the sky is not flat.

When you start painting tilt the board and apply the wash to dry or slightly damp the paper. Be sure to have enough wash to finish the job. Cloudy skies can be very dramatic or gentle. Soft skies are brushed on to wet surfaces - and crisp skies on to dry surfaces. With skies the chief fault is nearly always timid.

Very often what people tend to do is play about with skies - pushing the paint around too much, sometimes painting a blue sky all over. First the whole sky should be planned beforehand - what sort of weather conditions will the day have.

It is important to realise that clouds have their own perspective, in as much as the big ones are always at the top of the picture and they gradually get smaller and weaker as they approach the horizon.

Here are a few basic facts about skies which will make them look more convincing. First, clear blue skies should never be flat but darker above, and lighter as they approach the horizon.

I always apply a very weak of raw sienna all over the sky. Just to give a creamy tint then paint blue strongly across while the first wash is still very wet and then graduate it so that by the time it reaches to the horizon it is non existent.

Another simple rule to remember is that if you have a complicated landscape, give it a simple sky, but if you want to paint an elaborate sky, set it against a relatively simple landscape.

Try doing at least one sky every day. The more you practise the more confident you will be.

Before you start painting think what sequence of washes you are going to use.

Select the essential features and by using the big brush only and working quickly and decisively. Observe the painting done here.

The sky is not a uniform blue all over. Due to the effects of atmospheric perspective it appears bright directly overhead and becomes increasingly cooler and paler in colour as it nears the horizon just before sunset.

The sky at sunset takes a radiant glow which even the brightest colours can never hope to match.

This is a seaside scene using bright colours to show the sky at sunset. No. 10 sable hair brush was used to do the sky with No. 3 and No. 1 for finishing touches. About 150 gms Kent paper was used for colouring.