As an artist and former meteorologist, I am uniquely qualified to tell you about drawing clouds. Sketchbook club members can watch the video (and all past replays!).
Here’s the short version
Skies are darker at the top
Almost always. And that’s because the light coming from the sky closest to the horizon has to pass through a lot more atmosphere than the sky directly above you.
Clouds are darker at the bottom
Because the sun (usually) is above the clouds, they have a shadow underneath.
Clouds are random shapes and sizes
What shape is a cloud? Any shape really. There’s a tendency to make everything the same in a painting. Avoid this and try to be deliberately random.
It’s a one-time thing
With watercolour, don’t try and correct. Get in and get out. Let the paint do its thing.
Be loose
Don’t try to paint particular shapes. Go for cloud-ish. Paint fast.
Below are some references that we used during the session, and a bonus one.
