Clouds:
Even Sterling Edwards admits to needing PRACTICE when painting clouds. Here is a 15-minute youtube describing his method of painting large cumulus clouds.
Here are some pictures of clouds to practice with - I took them on my way home Thursday. These have some backlit edges that are not as soft edged as many clouds are.
Five things to remember when painting clouds:
1. Even though some may appear at diagonals, those that are farther away and closer to the horizon, usually appear to be more horizontal.
2. Wetting the paper first will give you time to create the soft edges and shadows; so if you do wet on wet, give the water time to sink into the paper
before you paint.
3. If you include some blue sky, you can paint that first around the clouds. Remember that skies are darker at the top, paler as they reach the horizon.
4. You can use a "thirsty" brush (one that has been wet but wiped off to remove moisture) to manipulate the paint while it is wet.
5. USe grays that you make from the sky color and burnt sienna or another opposite.
6. You can lift with a tissue or thirsty brush to create rays of sun coming through the clouds. You can also lift out areas that you will later paint
in and you don't want to fight a darker color. (see the picture below)
Below is a 12 minute cloud study using 6 different methods. At the end of the video, she suggests a book which I have and will try to bring to class.
It is The Complete Watercolorists Essential Notebook by Gordon MacKenzie.
Sunrise/Sunsets
Also a subject I generally treat wet into wet. I usually wet the paper completely, letting the water sink in a bit so that I have enough time to play with the paint before it dries too much.
One problem that is easily avoided is trying to blend colors from yellow (of the sun) to the blue of the sky without making a green. (The previous video mentions this when talking about the background for clouds).
The easiest, most sure-fire way to do this is to create a "buffer" color, usually red or pink.
That way, you blend from yellow to orange to red to violet to blue. No green.
In this one, I wet the paper and began with yellow. I was using a fairly big brush because my paper was 11 x 14. Yellow is easily dominated, so I like to get that in first.
Then I added a bit of magenta (it makes nicer violets than a warmer red) and the blue after the magenta. Because the paper is wet, I can tip it back and forth
or diagonally to get the colors to blend.
You can also use a tissue or thirsty brush to lift out a place for the sun, if you like.
I wanted my picture to be a little more colorful. I WAITED FOR IT TO DRY. Then I wet it all again and added more color.
Of course, if you don't want blues, it is much simpler. See the 19 min video below from LIesl Studio
I've been talking about using a sheet of plexiglas to put wet paper on, instead of taping it down to a board. I've done this for along time at home,
but today I found a youtube that talks about it
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