50 practical tips for painting realistic skies and clouds
A landscape can be beautifully painted and still feel incomplete if the sky isn't convincing. In many landscapes, the sky occupies much of the canvas and shapes the light, color, depth, and atmosphere.
Yet many painters find painting skies and clouds difficult.
At first glance, a cloud may seem simple: a little white, a little gray, and a blue background. Once you try to paint it, though, its complexity becomes clear. A cloud has volume, receives light, casts shadows, and constantly changes shape. Even a white cloud rarely has truly white shadows. Look closely and you'll find blue, violet, ochre, pink, gray, and sometimes even greenish tones.
That is precisely what makes clouds so fascinating to paint.
The old Dutch masters understood better than anyone how important the sky can be for a painting. Look, for example, at Jacob van Ruisdael. In many of his landscapes, the sky takes up a huge portion of the canvas. His clouds are not a backdrop behind the landscape. They determine the light, create depth and give the painting its drama.
That principle is still just as useful today.
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