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Skies and Clouds Demo Week 1
In our last class we practiced making skies then adding clouds after the sky was dry - wet on dry - as backgrounds for landscape paintings.
The first study we did was a plain blue sky, yet it isn't. Skies are always darker higher up then closer to the surface because you are looking through less atmosphere when you look up.
One way to get that gradation of color from dark to light is to first cover your sky area with a thin layer of gesso, we will be blending into the gesso so don't let it dry.
Next pick up your blue (I used ultramarine) with the tiniest amount of purple or a little crimson and just streak this across the top of you canvas. go back with your brush using long crisscross strokes and start blending down starting at the top and working your way down the canvas. Because you have gesso on the canvas your sky should get lighter as you blend down. If you need more blue, rinse your brush, pick up more of the colors then start back up at the top and work down. If it is too dark at the bottom, flip it over and add gesso starting at what is not the top and work it into the blue to get a gradation.
At this point you are working wet into wet so you need to work quickly. Also learn to lighten the pressure of your brush ans you work down, it help when doing a gradation. If you want a smother sky, you can switch to your blending brush and very lightly soften out the brush marks again starting in the dark to the light.
When you have gotten this as best as you can (this does require practice), let it dry.
When the sky was dry we added distant mountains and clouds, both were done with the same gray mixture so make enough so you don't have to keep mixing.
The gray mix is my workhorse mix or ultramarine blue and burnt sienna with gesso to change the value (lighten). You might want to burn this combo into your brain because you will use it a lot. You want a cool gray so that means more blue than sienna.
I started with a medium light gray and added gesso to lighten or more blue and sienna to darken. With my bristle brush, I used the very end of my brush and the whole edge not a corner, and I pulled down to make the top edge of the mountains. In the body of the mountains I tried to create interesting brush marks to suggest the ruggedness of the mountains. They are in the distance so detail only needs to be suggested.
The clouds I used a smaller #4 flat bristle brush because this technique will eat up a sable brush quickly because we will be doing the dry brush technique.
Starting with a darker gray and little paint on the brush, I used the corner or side of my brush to make a series of circular strokes to shape my clouds. As I worked on the clouds, I picked up touches of gesso on my brush to lighten the top edges of the clouds to suggest that sunlight is hitting them. Again, be aware that the pressure you put on your brush with have an effect on your clouds. In the inside of your clouds, pressure doesn't matter as much but when you get to the outside edges, lighten the pressure to get soft, fluffy edges. You don't want your clouds to look like a bunch of floating rocks, this isn't Pandora. Also with you are adding gesso to lighten areas lighten the pressure. This is very important.
The second example is done very similar to the first but this time we added other colors.
Start by covering the canvas with gesso, then start with the lighter colors of yellow and red. It is easier if you turn your canvas over for this part. Lightly blend the colors together but don't doddle, you still need to get the blue on there.
Turn the canvas right side up and add the blue just like you did in the previous study and blend down to the lighter colors. You can use a bristle or sable brush for this to get a more "painterly" sky or switch to the blender brush, just be sure that the brush you use is clean and dry before starting to blend.
Starting in the light area, using very light pressure on your brush, use long crisscross strokes and work your way up into the blue area. Pressure and long strokes are the key here. Wipe out your brush to get most of the paint off, if you need to blend again, start in the light area and work up. You can work the blue down a little just be careful of getting too much blue in the yellow or you will have green skies.
The clouds were done the exact same way as the previous study though this time I added some color. (Don't worry about the palm trees, that's and easy fix.)
It is better to have reference photos to look at when you are doing clouds, like everything else, having something to look at telly you what you need to do.
Don't lose these or paint them out we will be adding to them later.
Remember, I have been doing this for a long time and I make it look easy but it took me more than one attempt before I finally figured out how to get the sky and clouds I wanted. These little studies will help you learn without the pressure of feeling you are going to ruin your masterpiece straight out of the gate. You can always gesso over the studies and use the canvas again.
Keep painting and I will see you in class.
Background Demos
A painting starts with the first brush full of paint, and in acrylics especially, that is usually in the background. We can work from background to foreground in acrylics because the paint dries fast enough we can paint right over top of what we did previously, so having a good foundation for you painting by having an effective background is critical to the overall success of your painting.
As many of you found out, a good background isn't as easy as I make it look, so the more you practice the better off you will be down the line.
This first background I did can be done with any color combination you want or even going from light to dark in one color, this will be a wet into wet technique so you need to work quickly. This is a great background for portraits, flora paintings, still life and even landscapes.
I started by covering the canvas with a light coat of gesso, then in the center with yellow, next I picked up orange and went around the outside of the yellow using crisscross strokes to lightly blend the two colors, I'm not worried about brush strokes at this point. I did a similar thing with sienna then adding ultramarine blue to darken the edges. The key thing most of you missed was USING CRISSCROSS STROKES. Most were painting circles around each color nothing was blending and problems ensued..
Now you can leave it this way if you want a more "painterly" look to your painting or, while the paint is still wet, take your soft blending brush and with long gentle crisscross strokes gently blend from the light area to the dark. Your brush should be almost parallel to the canvas as you lightly skim across the surface. This takes practice. You need to get a feel for the brush and the pressure, if you are leaving marks you are touching down or leaving your canvas too hard.
This next one is making a background like you are looking up through the trees. Again I started with a coat of gesso and this is wet into wet.
I used both my greens (Hooker's and sap) making the suggestion of leaves adding sienna to suggest branches, and there is some orange and yellow just because.
I then went in with blue (I used both thalo at the top and ultramarine from middle to bottom) and filled in the spaces in between the leaves and branches.
Again, I took my soft blending brush and lightly blended all these colors together using crisscross strokes and as the late Bob Ross would say "3 hairs and some air" to lightly blend.
The next example was done the same way but this time I had a landscape in mind.
Finally, I did grasses again with the gesso first then I started with yellow and orange on a large flat sable brush, starting at the bottom and lifting as I went up I made strokes that suggest grass going over previous strokes with more strokes and different colors to congest and overlap like real grass does when it grows.
I think I used almost every color on my palette - yellow, orange, red, sienna, green and blue - and this is why you need to have something to put ALL your colors out on because you never know what you will need.
I want you to save the background studies because we will be using them later so if you need to try again, save your best ones for class.
Keep painting.
