Useful tips: how to paint clouds in watercolor?

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The art of painting is one of the most valuable achievements of the cultural development of mankind, which makes the hearts of sophisticated viewers tremble. Mastering watercolor, the most capricious and sensual paint, puts the creator on a new pedestal of mastery. Today we will give some advice to those watercolorists who reveal their talent through picturesque landscapes, namely, how to paint clouds in watercolor.

Don't skimp on materials

Be responsible for the materials you will work with: keep your brushes clean and keep the pile intact, no one needs the villi to climb during work.

If you outline a sketch before working with a tone, then do it with a hard pencil with barely noticeable lines: such a contour will not blur the drawing, and subsequently it can be gently erased with an elastic band from the finished image. Although some artists deliberately leave marking lines to give the work a painterly carelessness.

The choice of paper is of great importance. Often artistscollide with highly absorbent dense specimens. Or they even take sheets that are too thin, which are “blurred” from a light touch with a brush. Do not save on paper, but rather buy a trial format and test before going to the open air (drawing from life in nature).

Creating clouds in watercolor, the artist not only works on nature, but puts a particle of the soul into the drawing. The relief texture of the paper can well emphasize the character of the picture.

Play with the plane

Surprisingly, attaching the sheet to a vertical tablet or to a board that you will hold on your lap also has an impact on the technique of performing the work. When drawing while standing, you get the opportunity to see the whole picture at every moment of drawing. However, it is more difficult for you to control the paint, smudges may run. Preferences depend on the author's style.

Wet the leaf

Some artists prefer to work on dry sheets, creating original and clear-cut works, but atmospheric landscapes, conveying the professionalism and skill of the author, are mostly made in the "raw" technique. The sheet is attached to the masking tape to the board (tablet) and evenly wetted with a wide brush. Then the paper is allowed to absorb water for a couple of minutes, and only then they begin to write with paints. This layer is used for underpainting - lining the paint under the main layer.

Be patient and after applying each coat, let the paint dry to continue painting.

Start lighter

Clouds in watercolor - a rather capricious phenomenon in illustration. This paint tends to fade when dry, and knowing this fact, you obviously impose a darker tone. However, don't rush. Until a complete understanding of the picture appears and you cover the entire area of \u200b\u200bthe sheet with color, do not condense the tone. You will always have time to type, but blurring the result is much more difficult and less effective.

If you are painting clouds on a clear, fine day, use yellow and ocher colors for the initial layer. It's a reflection of sunlight.

Pour in colors

Painting is a play of light, color and modulations. When painting clouds in watercolor and adding a blue tint, notice pinkish or purple in it. It all depends on the weather and surroundings. On the clouds, everything that is below them on the ground (sea, meadow, forest and flowers) can be reflected in shades. When filling a certain area with paint, do not drown it out with a nuclear tint, but put a smear of a different color on its border and smoothly pour one color into another.

Work patiently in layers - this gives more freedom in corrections, versatility and complexity of the result.

And remember: there is no absolute white in the sky, so even the brightest areas need to be brushed over with a tint.

Don't be afraid of contrasts

Next to the complex gray color, orange will seem even brighter! This will give natural expressiveness and emotional intensity to your work.

Break clouds into objects

Painting clouds in watercolor does not mean creating shapeless cotton wool. The artist paints an object that has its own visual relief and shadows. Try to think in arrays and break clouds into geometric primitives (spheres, parallelepipeds). This will help in submitting the form.

Use aerial perspective

As you know, all objects that are closer to a person have clearer outlines. Paint that approaches the horizon is peeled off and blurred, creating an aerial perspective and illustrating the laws of physics.

Today we gave you tips on how to paint clouds in watercolor. We wish you creative success!