Painting Clouds That Look Like Clouds

An artist friend just asked a great question. She says,

 "I've been working on a landscape and having a terrible time with a couple little clouds I'm trying to paint. Do you use a special brush when you paint clouds? I'm wondering if I just need to wait awhile and let the darker shades dry so the lighter areas don't end up muddy. I can't figure out how to get a fluffy airy look".

Clouds really can be hard, and it seems sometimes that the more you work on them, the worse they get. Luckily, there are indeed some things to do that will help, including a trick or two. But let me first break down the question into parts.

Do you use a special brush when you paint clouds? It sounds like it would make sense to use a soft brush when painting soft clouds, but that can actually (sometimes) work against you. Contrary to what you may think, soft brushes are oftentimes best reserved for sharp lines and detail work, while the stiff bristle brushes can be great for soft, wispy edges. In general, I just use my large bristle brush (same one I use in the rest of the landscape), and have found that one to work better than anything.

I'm wondering if I just need to wait awhile and let the darker shades dry so the lighter areas don't end up muddy. This can sometimes seem like the right thing to do, but I personally prefer to paint cloud/sky areas wet into wet...it helps with the softer edges that you'll want. No, I think the best thing to do is scrape down any paint that's gotten too thick, then repaint the clouds the way you want them, remembering that clouds are 3-dimensional structures with a light side and a shadow side.

I can't figure out how to get a fluffy airy look. In my experience, clouds usually begin to look too "heavy" for one of two reasons: first, the sky is painted too dark in comparison to the clouds (or the contrast within the clouds is too great); and second, the edges are simply too hard/sharp (which can sometimes be because the paint is too thick). Without seeing my friend's painting, I'm going by what problems I've run into.

Now, a couple tricks that may help:

• Paint the clouds first, then the sky. If you're like me and enjoy an impressionistic or painterly look, this is practically a rule. I can't tell you how often I've been surprised by how well this simple trick works. (If you've already painted the sky, that's fine...repaint the clouds the way you want them, then go back in with the sky color and paint around them). Then you can soften an edge here and there, mixing the sky and the cloud tones together a bit to create half-tones.
  
• Look carefully at the shadows within the clouds. Except for dark storm clouds, the shadows within the clouds are usually going to be lighter than the sky around them.
  
•  To see how soft or hard the edges are, try to blur your vision a little and see how soft the clouds are compared with the land and other elements in the landscape you're painting. With big thunderclouds it's easy to think they have hard edges...well, they kind of do, that is, until you see how soft they look compared with the edges of the trees and grass (which are also soft elements, but not nearly as much as the clouds above).
  
• When you need to soften the edge of a cloud, I would suggest not "feathering" the edges. I've seen it done well this way, but it's sometimes easier to preserve the form and mass of the cloud if you paint the obvious shape of it, only using those half-tones I mentioned (mixtures of the sky color and the cloud color...and here it's easiest to drag from cloud to sky, or from sky to cloud).

(Notice here that the shadows are far lighter than the sky).

(Very wispy clouds can be very difficult to paint. Just remember that they still have form and shape).

As for a step-by-step order, although I suggest finding your own way that works in each painting, here are some steps that may help:

1. First, paint the clouds white (or rather, the correct color-corrected version of white...meaning that you warm it up or otherwise color it a bit according to what you see)...just worry about the outline shapes first, kind of in construction paper fashion, .
2. Without cleaning your brush first, mix an ever-so-slightly-darker shade for your cloud shadows, making sure again to look at your subject and make it the right temperature (usually warmer than you might think, and always warmer--and usually lighter--than the sky around it).
3. Wash your brush thoroughly and paint in the sky color around your clouds...like magic, it will all come together. 
4. Finally, soften your edges, paying close attention to preserving the shape and form of the clouds...don't overdo it.

Hope this helps. If you need extra help, ask away. :)
-Trent

Click here to go to my website and see some more examples.