A Cloud and Sky Refresher

'Under Sunny Skies'         16x20       pastel       ©Karen Margulis
available $350

As much as I love the close up world of the intimate landscape I am equally drawn to the drama of the sky. So when my private student asked for some sky and cloud tips I was excited to oblige. I gave her my condensed run down of my favorite tips for painting the sky and clouds and then put it together in the above demo painting.

I'd like to share one important tip that will help you paint more authentic and believable skies....skies and clouds that are air and gas....skies that have depth and clouds that float seamlessly in the sky.

STUDY THE SKY.

Go outside and look up. Take notes. Do a sketch. Even better do a pastel study. Look at the clouds and the sky and ask yourself descriptive questions....what colors, values, shapes, edges do I see? Make mental and physical notes of your answers. All  of this sky study will help you when it comes to painting the sky. 


You can get a refresher on painting the sky and clouds in pastel in my PDF demo available in my Etsy shop. I also have a video on YouTube on painting a cloudy sky.

First layer block in stage

Tip: Leave space for the big clouds! Block in the cloud shadows before the lights.

Mid stage. Time to evaluate and see where the clarity will be

What Happens When You Change Underpainting Colors?

'Passing Storm'         18x24       pastel       ©Karen Margulis
available $350

 I love the reference photos. It was one of those 'drive-by' shots taken from the car as the landscaped zipped by. The sky was our entertainment on the last few hours of a long drive across Texas and New Mexico. Storms on the horizon provided a changing spectacle of drama in the sky.  I took many photos of the same distant storm and they continue to provide inspiration.

The first painting I did was for my Sky workshop in Florida. For this demo I painted large and used four values of violet for a dry wash underpainting. I wanted to create interesting grays in the storm clouds and felt that violet would lend a dramatic and moody touch. This was the resulting painting.

The original painting used a violet underpainting

What would happen if I changed underpainting colors?  Could I get a stormy mood with another color palette? It is a question I ask myself whenever choosing underpainting colors? How would the color choice impact the mood and feel of the painting? There is no right or wrong answer. It really is a matter of trial and error. The more options you try the more intuitive future underpainting color choices will be.

Creating a series from a favorite reference is the perfect way to discover interesting new color palettes.

The colors I selected for the underpainting...Nupastels and Rembrandt

I decided to use the same photo for yesterday's sky workshop. But this time I would choose different underpainting colors. The first painting had a violet underpainting with golds, ochres and yellows in the final painting.  I decided to try to use blues and oranges for this version.  I tested potential colors on a paper scrap.

Since it was a quick demo I needed to do another dry underpainting. I selected a few Nupastels and a Rembrandt. I wanted a dark, a light and some middle values that would give me a head start on my blue and orange color scheme. In this version the underpainting colors were the actual local colors that I planned to use. I rubbed this layer of hard pastel into the paper with a piece of pipe foam.
(I didn't get a photo since it was a class demo)

My color sampler....trying out possible colors

What did I discover?  The underpainting colors guided me and set the tone of the painting. The resulting painting still expressed the distant dark and stormy feeling and yet I used a different set of colors.

Now I wonder what would happen if I tried turquoise for an underpainting!?! Back to the easel to find out!

'Storms on the Horizon'        18x24       pastel       $350

Sky Painting Tip #5 Painting the Sunset

'A Beautiful Ending'           12x18       pastel       ©Karen Margulis
available $160

I love sunsets. But they can be tricky to paint. It is always a danger that they will look cliche. And it would seem almost impossible to capture their fleeting and ever-changing beauty. It doesn't keep me from trying though! I have painted many sunsets and learn with each one. I have shared my sunset painting journey over the years on the blog. I thought it would be helpful to compile a list of my favorite sunset blog articles.  Click on each link to read the post.

Choosing the right pastels for a sunset

A Favorite Tip for painting the sunset

Tips for a Magical sunset

Painting more authentic sunsets


TIP: If you go directly to my blog at www.karenmargulis.com you can search for any topic in the search bar on the right. I have 11 years of postings and might have addressed your questions at some point.

'Morning Splendor'        11x14       pastel       $160

Visit my etsy shop to see all of my SKY paintings. Take 25% off the price of any sky painting this week using coupon code BIGSKY click here to see paintings

Sky Painting Tip #5 Adding Sparkle to your Clouds

'The Evolution of the Clouds'         9x12        pastel        ©Karen Margulis
available $155

It was one of those so called happy accidents. I didn't do it on purpose and when it happened I thought about changing it. After all it wasn't in my plan. But I decided to embrace it and it opened a door to something exciting! Lesson learned.

I was choosing pastels to use for my clouds. I picked out some darks for the shadows, some middle values and finally some lights for the illuminated part of the clouds. I don't usually pay too much attention to the exact color. I am more interested in getting the value I need. So I was hunting for a very light value green....almost white. I was excited to find just the right piece of pastel....until I made a mark.

It sparkled!  It shimmered! It was glittery and shiny! It was a Great American Pearlescent green pastel and a piece somehow made it into my big pastel box. 

I made another mark. And another. I started to like the resulting shimmer in my clouds. It was an accident but I was happy! I now have a new use for all of those pearlescent pastels I've collected....cloud sparkle!

close up of clouds. click to enlarge. Sparkle doesn't translate well in the photo.

I hope you have enjoyed the sky tips I have shared this week. If you would like more tips consider my Sky and Cloud demo booklet on Etsy. It has the step by step demo for today's painting along with much more. It is like a mini workshop pdf. Thank you to all of you who have already purchased it!

click here to read more about the demo or make a purchase.

Sample pages

Testimonials:
"The detail in this PDF is incredible and then the video to watch as well is really excellent teaching.Thanks so much."

 "Karen always gives you your money's worth! instructions are easy to understand, photos very helpful, very detailed"

Sky Painting Tip #4 Painting Large Skyscapes

'Back to the Beach'         18x24       pastel        ©Karen Margulis
available $350

Have you painted something large lately? I tend to be a very small format painter. Most of my paintings are 9x12 and smaller. But I LOVE to paint large. There is something very liberating about a big piece of paper and a tray of pastels. We are free to move and respond with large marks. We are no longer contained by borders of a small support.

Painting a large skyscape is one of the best ways to improve our  skies and clouds.

The sky is larger than life. It isn't easy to fit it into a small space and give the illusion of how grand it really is. Clouds are free and constantly on the move....appearing, disappearing, changing.  When we have a larger space to work on we are free to create this grandeur and movement with larger and sweeping marks. When our whole body is involved in painting it often translates into  looser more expressive marks. When I paint large I "feel large'. It is hard to explain but this feeling of freedom can be carried into smaller works once it is experienced.

cloud close-up

Try a Big Sky Painting ...Here are some tips

• Work on a full sheet of paper. I used 18x24 sheets of Uart for these paintings. (Don't be afraid to use the paper. If you decide you don't like the painting you can cut it up and have readymade underpaintings.)

• Plan your painting before starting. Decide on the composition and select your pastel palette. This will help you get into the 'zone' and really respond to the painting.

• Do some kind of underpainting or tone your paper. This will allow you to use less pastel.

• Use hard pastels for much the painting. Save your super softies for final marks. If you are worried about using up precious pastels you won't relax and enjoy the process! I love using Mount Vision pastels for my largest paintings.

• Make sure you have a lower horizon if the painting is about the SKY and downplay the stuff on the ground.

'Storms End'        18x24      pastel     $400

CELEBRATE THE SKY THIS WEEK AND TREAT YOURSELF TO A PAINTING!

BIGSKY sale 20% off selected sky paintings in my Etsy shop. Use coupon code BIGSKY at checkout. Click here to see all sale paintings.


see my cloud demo on etsy for more sky tips

What Happens When the Sky is White? Sky Painting Tip #3

'All is Quiet'     8x10      pastel    ©Karen Margulis
available $145

It seems like an odd question. Is the sky ever really white? It sometime appears to be white on foggy or overcast days. But a closer look will reveal subtle and light colors. There is no substitute for real life observation to help with sensitivity to color. The more you look the more you will see color in a white sky. But sometimes the sky is really white....in photos!

the reference photo with an overexposed sky

When the sky appears white in a photo it is overexposed. Another word used is blown out or washed out. This happens when the camera has trouble recording detail in all areas of the scene. When a photo is overexposed the highlights or bright parts of the scene are washed out and appear white. It happens a lot with skies. This doesn't mean the sky was actually white. The camera just wasn't able to expose all areas of the scene properly.

So what do we do when we have a reference photo with a  white sky? I celebrate! A white sky gives me freedom to experiment and try some unexpected sky colors. If I remember what color the sky was and want to be true to the scene that is my starting point. Then it is time to play.  For a better result I have a suggestion. Before starting the painting, make some quick Color Samplers.

Very quick Color Samplers

 Using a piece of scrap paper (same color and type that you will use for the painting) make several color samplers. These are very quick and simple blocks of pastel marks with the colors you might use in your painting. Choose the main colors. For my color samplers I wanted to see what different sky colors would look like. I put down marks for the ground, trees and flowers and then tried different sky colors. I put a black box around the samplers so I could see them better.

It was easy to see how the sky color worked in each sample and in the end I decided to use the green sky at the bottom. I felt it would be an interesting choice to represent a mysterious overcast day.

The best thing about the color samplers is that I have four more choices for my white sky. I love the possibilities a white sky gives me!

A wet underpainting with Derwent Inktense Sticks and water

Are Clouds Always Colorful?

'Summertime Sky'        9x12         pastel         ©Karen Margulis
available $155

It was a great question. A Facebook friend asked me about painting what she called "fluffy white clouds without much color."  The question really made me think. My first response was that it was really a matter of how we interpret the clouds. We all see color differently. Each person experiences color in a personal way.  I happen to see a lot of color in clouds but I also choose to exagerrate the color as part of my process. Adding color where it may not be quite so obvious for the sake of expression is something I love to do. So in my world clouds are not white and gray. 

But I  couldn't get the question out of my mind. I wanted to give a better answer. Then it hit me! I tend to paint colorful clouds because I choose to paint the clouds of early morning and late afternoon. 

• When the sun is lower in the sky the light is warmer anything white tends to be more colorful...think yellows, pink and peach.  

• When the sun is directly overhead at midday the light is cooler  the clouds appear much brighter and whiter. I rarely paint a landscape with midday light so my clouds are rarely so 'white'. 

• TIP: All cumulus 'fluffy puffy' clouds have areas of light and shadow. This is what gives them shape and volume. Even when the light of clouds appear bright and white, the shadows can still be made of colorful grays. Even the 'white' can be a very very light value color rather than pure white and it will still look white especially next to a deep blue sky. (I used a pale value yellow for today's clouds)

So a  better answer is:  Know what time of day you are painting. It affects the color and temperature of the light. Clouds around midday will appear cooler and whiter. Any other time of day the 'white' will tend to be more colorful. 

Today's painting is a rare (for me) mid day landscape. We came across these wonderful clouds just after lunch on summer day in New Mexico. I used the lightest pastel I have to paint the sunlit part of the clouds with a touch of pure white for the highlights. The shadows are blends of gray violets.

9x12 white Canson Mi-Teintes paper step one

First layer pushed into paper 

Darks first

building up the ground and cloud shadows

Finish #1. Then more work done to shape the clouds

Intrigued by clouds? Have a look at my new PDF booklet with more tips! click here

Sky Painting Tip #1 The Arrangement of Clouds

'The View from the Marsh'        9x12       pastel      ©Karen Margulis
available $155

It is Sky Week here in my studio. I am gearing up for next week's workshop on painting skies so you could say that my head is in the clouds! I am also celebrating the release of my latest pdf demo booklet. The booklet is more than just a step by step demo. (more on this later this week) To celebrate, let's talk about clouds today!

I will open the discussion with my new favorite sky quote from our friend Bob Ross.

"Clouds are very very free"

A simple statement but one that is so important to painting beautiful clouds. It is a statement that gives us freedom. It gives us permission to paint beautiful expressive clouds. It reminds us that we don't have to copy the clouds exactly as we see them. Clouds are free and so are we!

a dry wash underpainting on Canson Mi-Teintes

Sometimes we are guilty of being caught up in getting things 'right'. We are afraid to move away from our references. It can get us into trouble especially with things such as clouds. Clouds move and change constantly. A photo is just a moment in time and the clouds are frozen in a photo. It isn't natural. They may not  be arranged in a interesting way. They may even form odd shapes. When we copy these things we copy these problems. Our clouds may look stiff and heavy. We might have to explain "Well that's how they were in the photo."  So what should we do instead?

The initial layers

Give yourself the freedom to move clouds around and change them so that they support and add to your composition. Arrange them so that they become interesting shapes and so that the sky becomes an interesting negative shape. Give thought to your clouds. Allow the clouds to evolve and don't box them in. Clouds are free and so are we!

For more cloud and sky tips check out my cloud demo on Etsy

Painting information: reference photo not available (lost in a huge pile) Canson Mi-Tientes gray with Terry Ludwig pastels.

How to Paint Beautiful Skies and Clouds....Live Demo and Booklet

'Passing Clouds'           18x24       pastel       ©Karen Margulis
available $400

 I love wide open spaces. I am happiest when I can see the sky and see the landscape unfold in front of me. Driving across the wide open spaces of Texas and New Mexico on our way to the Plein Air Convention was such a treat. Marsha Savage and I enjoyed watching the sky as we drove. We had one full day of overcast but as we came into New Mexico the sky began to open up and the clouds were magnificent.  A photo taken from the car window was the inspiration for today's demo painting.

This week for my Sunday Studio time live Facebook demo I didn't narrate the painting but instead painted to music and I painted Large! This painting is 18x24. It was fun to have a chance to paint big and get into the zone!

close-up detail

To view the demo on YouTube click here. Be sure to subscribe to my channel so you know when new videos are posted.

If you are interested in learning more about painting beautiful clouds and skies have a look at my new PDF demo booklet. I do a similar demo and give a very detailed step by step description of the painting. This is my biggest booklet yet at 50 double pages and 109 photos! I include many bonus pages so it is like having a mini workshop with me. This booklet is $10 in my etsy shop.

Link to PDF booklet