Every Artist Knows the frustration of clouds unless you're that naturally gifted.

I am not

For a long time painting clouds were very frustrating and stress inducing experience for me.  I think most non-artists envision painters in a state of zen and relaxation. While this may be true for some. I can only speak for myself that it is not always the case or a calming activity.  Quite the opposite. 

Not everyone will get my extremely dark sense of humor except those who know me, so excuse this. There is a comedian I love, Eddie Izzard in his very funny stand up routine, Dressed To Kill.  He does a bit about Hitler and his paintings.

"I can't get the trees right...Kill everyone in the world!!" 

I often think of that bit when trying to make clouds look real and not like puffs of cotton balls or not the same repetative shapes.  Luckily painting clouds for me now, no longer makes me want to kill everyone in the world anymore or as much.  I joke! -sometimes lol. 

With certain paintings I really love to push myself to making the clouds look as realistic & 3D as I can, but I still have a lot to learn and a long ways to go.  I study clouds constantly.  I've noticed the shape of cumulus clouds and tops of desideous trees when in full foliage are quite similar.  Clouds are never just white, there are multitude shades of blues and greys.

When I get compliments on my clouds, especially from way better artists than myself,  I feel extremely proud as a self-taught artist compared to the cotton balls of my earlier works. 

The technique I have found I love the most when painting clouds is mostly lightly dry brushing. Due to the fast drying of acrylics I have to work fast and in small sections.  Sometimes I put multiple tones or shades or the same colors on the brush.  Also TRANSPARENT WHITE PAINT.  Game changing.  If you dont have transparent white in your arsenal, you're missing out.  

Most importantly when attempting to paint clould just remember they are just clouds and not worth killing everyone in the world over. Though you may want to, dry brushing with transparent white instead. You'll be less deadly with a paint brush and more zen instead. 

Namaste 🙏Every Artist Knows the Frustration of Clouds

Every artist knows the frustration of clouds—unless you're one of those naturally gifted artists.

I am not.

For a long time, painting clouds was a very frustrating and stress-inducing experience for me. I think most non-artists envision painters in a state of zen and relaxation. While this may be true for some, I can only speak for myself, and that is not always the case. Quite the opposite.

Not everyone will get my extremely dark sense of humor, especially those who don't know me, so excuse this. There is a comedian I love, Eddie Izzard, who has a very funny stand-up routine called Dressed to Kill. He does a bit about Hitler and his paintings:

“I can't get the trees right... Kill everyone in the world!”

I often think of that bit when trying to make clouds look realistic and not like puffs of cotton balls, or when I’m trying to keep them from becoming the same repetitive shapes.

Luckily, painting clouds for me now no longer makes me want to kill everyone in the world—or as much, anyway. I joke! Sometimes. LOL.

With certain paintings, I really love to push myself to make the clouds look as realistic and three-dimensional as I can, but I still have a lot to learn and a long way to go. I study clouds constantly. I've noticed that the shape of cumulus clouds and the tops of deciduous trees when they are in full foliage are quite similar. Clouds are never just white; there are a multitude of shades of blues and grays.

When I get compliments on my clouds, especially from artists who are way better than myself, I feel extremely proud. As a self-taught artist, I can really see the difference compared to the cotton balls of my earlier work.

The technique I've found I love the most when painting clouds is mostly lightly dry-brushing. Because acrylics dry so quickly, I have to work fast and in small sections. Sometimes I put multiple tones or shades of the same colors on my brush.

Also, TRANSPARENT WHITE PAINT.

Game changing.

If you don't have transparent white in your arsenal, you're missing out.

Most importantly, when attempting to paint clouds, just remember: they are just clouds and are not worth killing everyone in the world over.

Though you may want to.

Dry-brush with transparent white instead. You'll be less deadly with a paintbrush and more zen.

Namaste. 🙏