Painting Dynamic Skies in Watercolor
Skies are dynamic, ever-changing, awe-inspiring. And they have the ability to elevate a painting instantly.
In this course, I will lay out the needed techniques to paint skies with rich atmosphere that convey the emotions of the scene.
We will go over:
- Mixing for skies
- Sky basics
- Painting clouds
I have created demonstrations within each of these videos to give you some hands on practice along the way. At the end of the course, we will put all the pieces together and paint a scene together that illustrates these principles.
Happy painting!
-Matt
Mixing For Skies
In this video, I go over the specific pigments that I use and talk about mixing colors for painting skies.
You can download a complete list of my supplies in the Watercolor Essentials Supplies Guide. Download by clicking the button below.
What to do next?
1. Practice mixing different combinations of cool and warm colors as well as cool and warm grays.
2. Practice painting the transition in colors from the cools to the warms. (At 11:25 of the video.)
Once you feel comfortable with these two things move on to the next video.
Sky Basics
In this video we cover some basic techniques for painting skies. You'll notice that the blue at the top of the sky is typically a richer, darker color that fades as it gets closer to the horizon. We practice painting that transition in a simple practice exercise. Also, we go over the basics of painting clouds and giving them believable dimension.
What to do next?
1. Do the wash practice at 2:45 in the video. Practice creating a smooth transition from dark, rich blue to a lighter cerulean blue.
2. Practice painting two or three clouds. You can download some references for clouds and skies by clicking the button below.
Morning Sky Practice
In this video we practice painting an early morning sky. This is good practice in painting wet into wet, color mixing and timing.
What to do next?
Download the reference photo and paint this morning sky.
Sunset Sky Exercise
In this video we practice painting a sunset. This painting is all about capturing the bright warm light of the scene. We will practice color mixing, timing and of course values.
What to do next?
Download the reference photo and paint this sunset.
Tonal Sky Practice
In this video we practice painting backlit clouds. This is a good practice for working on our values, timing and painting wet into wet.
What to do next?
Download the reference photo and paint the sky.
Putting It All Together
In this video we are putting all the pieces together. We will paint a mid-day landscape scene with beautiful billowing clouds.
What to do next?
Download the reference photo and paint this scene.
