How to Paint Clouds.

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In this lesson, I want to show you how to paint clouds so that they look more realistic.

By the end of this lesson, you'll have a much better idea of how clouds work and how to get them to look right.

Topics Covered:

• Shapes
• Values
• Lighting
• Negative Space
• Other tips

Shapes:

The first step on learning how to paint clouds is to be able to see the shapes. There are two basic shapes we are interested in, and those are the volume of the cloud and the bottom of the cloud.

Here is the picture we are going to work with:

Let's look at the overall shape of the cloud.

As you can see, the cloud has a lot of straight lines and triangular areas. Most people assume that clouds are soft and have round edges. If you go in and ignore all the little details and look for the big shapes, you will find that clouds have lots and angles.

Now, let's look at the bottom.

The dark gray area is the bottom of the cloud. Most "thick" clouds have a flat bottom or at least a somewhat flat bottom. With thin clouds, this isn't as noticeable or they might have a rounded bottom.

We should also keep in the mind over volume.

As you can see, this clouds has a pyramid shape. It is not a perfect pyramid, but it is still the same general shape. The bottom is wide, and the top is narrow.

Values:

As you are studying how to paint clouds, you should definitely keep value in mind. This will make it look more real.

Look at how the values change. The highlight isn't pure white. It has little warm gray in it. The shadow is more of a cool gray. Getting these values correct will make everything look much better. They don't have to be exact, but to get the lighting to work, this is very important.

Lighting:

Now that you have an idea for different values you'll need when learning to paint clouds, let's take a quick look at the lighting.

I have marked the brightest highlights in the example. You won't find pure white all over. Usually, most of the cloud is a gray. Look for where the highlights are. Use your lightest colors sparingly. In fact, you might want to paint it light gray all over, then go in and paint the highlights and shadows in key areas.

Here are the overall shadows.

You can see that there are quite a few shadowy areas. Some shadows are lighter of course. Towards the bottom, they get a lot darker.

If this example is hard to see, study it for a minute, then go back and look at the original unaltered picture. You should be able to see it more clearly then.

I could have marked the areas where there are semi-light shadows or highlights, but you get the idea. Just look for value changes, even if slight.

In this example, it is hard to tell exactly where the light is coming from (where the sun is). In other scenes, it might be obvious. Either way, put down the values and shapes as you see them, and it will look correct.

Negative Space:

Looking at the negative space will help you get the overall shapes correct. I talk about this in other articles as well. You can use negative space in almost any scene. The blue of the sky or the background clouds would be the negative. Learning how to paint clouds is also about painting the sky.

Here is an example.

You can see the overall shape that the blue in the sky makes. You can use this as a guide to help you get everything placed correctly. Remember, you can draw the negative space just as you can draw the positive space. It is still a definite shape.

Other tips:

This will help with perspective. When learning how to paint clouds, you should keep perspective in mind. Any objects get smaller as they go into the distance. Look at how the bottoms get smaller as they go back.

You can see how they get smaller as they go back. This is true for the overall cloud, not just the bottom. Study the sky whenever you go outside. Just as objects on the ground get smaller, so do objects in the sky.

Now, I know I didn't talk much about actual painting techniques here, but honestly if you don't get this part of how to paint clouds, no amount of fancy brushwork will help. It will still look wrong.

First learn how things work, then learn how to paint them. Honestly, you are free to paint them however you wish. You can outline everything first. You can paint the sky first. You can paint basic shapes first. Do whatever you feels comfortable and experiment a little.

Read articles related to: How to Paint Clouds.

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