How to Paint Clouds — Jackie Partridge Art

Ever wondered how to paint clouds? Well keep reading and check out this awesome acrylic painting tutorial on how to paint clouds. You can learn how to paint clouds as a beginner painter. Even if you are new to painting or have never painted before, you will be able to learn how to paint clouds. Read the tips for how to paint clouds below!

How to Paint Clouds -Materials You Need

Cobalt blue paint
Titanium white paint
Mars black paint
A sponge or paper towel
A rag
A cup of water
A one inch flat brush
A number 6 round brush
A round brush for details
Canvas, canvas board or water colour paper

How to Paint Clouds- Step by Step Instruction

If you would like to refer to this beginner acrylic painting tutorial you can click on the video below.

Step 1- paint the sky

The first step to painting clouds is to paint the sky. You can choose to paint on canvas, canvas board or water colour paper. As you look at the sky and begin taking photos of the sky for inspiration you will notice that the sky starts from a dark blue on the top of the canvas and moves to a light blue at the bottom. To paint this gradient of colour, I start by mixing mars black with cobalt blue and paint a couple inches of that. Then I layer cobalt blue by painting two thirds of the canvas. For the last third of the canvas, I paint white mixed with cobalt blue. For the sky you will want to paint a couple of layers to make sure the surface is completely covered with paint.

Step 2 -begin planning the clouds

It helps to work from a photograph of clouds to be able to plan where you want to put the clouds in the sky. You can map out your clouds with some chalk or use your detail brush and a bit of white paint. Begin to plan where to place your clouds. Make sure you have some clouds going off the edges and some at the top of the sky, the middle and the bottom of the sky.

Step-3 -begin painting the clouds

Next, you can start painting the clouds. You can start by painting the highlights. This is with the white paint, it will be at the tops of the clouds. You can use your number 6 round brush to do this. After you can paint the shadows mix a bit of white with your mars black. You can use the same brush again.

Step 4- fill in the clouds

To fill in the clouds you want to mix different shades of grey. For extra help, you can watch my video on mixing greys by clicking on this link. You will want to have a range of greys and really have a great variety. You can mix in a bit of blue with grey as well to add a bit of a different dimension to the clouds. Make sure to keep the pure white highlights near the top edges of the clouds.

You can watch this palette knife cloud painting tutorial here!

Step 5- add texture and layers

Be sure to wait for the paint to dry completely before adding extra layers. When you add your second layer on the clouds you can use your round detail brush to be able to add more variety of tones of grey within a small section of clouds. Around the edges and with smaller clouds you can apply some white or grey paint to the canvas and then dab or smudge it off with a sponge or paper towel. This technique will create a soft texture and a more transparent look or a thinner cloud. Again, it is good to have variety in your clouds. You want some small clouds, big clouds, fat clouds, round clouds, lumpy ones, thick ones, thin ones, transparent ones, soft ones etc. Be sure to take the time to study the clouds and how they can change and evolve even in 10 minutes.

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