Painting sky
Posted: February 17, 2013 Filed under: Uncategorized 19 Comments »I went out this morning with two ideas: I wanted to work on sky and I was going to tackle it wet-in-wet. The closest place to my house with a good sky view is at McGill’s Macdonald Campus Farm where I have painted many times before. But do you know what it is like to paint wet-in-wet in a really cold car? The paper never dries and everything goes all soft. The composition is a little dull, the subject matter conventional but I was happy with my sky. Now I just hope my toes warm up.
Wonderful sky Shari, I love this!
Thanks so much Don!
I love sky’s! They are always a challenge – you captured the sense of volume and depth that I find fascinating in clouds.
Thanks Anne. I find clouds fascinating too. And so hard to master.
Very nice !
Thanks Sue!
I like that sky. And I LOVE those fence posts and their shadows.
Thanks Lee. Those “fence posts” are actually stalks of corn coming out of the snow. I probably made them too tall.
Could you get an adaptor and use your hair dryer in the car to dry the paper?
I could probably do that but I usually use the car defroster on full blast. The technical problem is that I didn’t want it completely dry, just a little less wet.
Beautiful sky! I have always been interested in skies that had more of a stormy look to them. Pretty blue skies are a dime a dozen but stormy skies have lots of character and variety.
Me too Mrs. P. I love those stormy skies. Painting them and just watching them go by.
I like it! The subject matter may be “conventional” but I think that is just because you have painted this little group many times before… if this was the first time that I looked at the blog, I don’t think I would find it conventional. And the composition is certainly not “dull”… there is good rhythm with the barn, silos and background shapes, as well as lots of contrast between lights and darks… plus the corn stalk rows leading the eye in. Oh, the sky worked really well too. I suggest that you have another good look at it now that your toes have thawed.
Ok, my toes are warm. I guess I have painted this a bit too much so it’s good to hear your comments.
I love this painting. The sky is dramatically beautiful, and I like the corn stalks going in.
Well I think it’s terrific. The sky is wonderful, but I love the slight bleed of the barn into the snow. It actually feels like a late winter snow with that slight yellow tinge especially on the right , don’t you think?
It does feel like a late winter snow. And I learned something new when I did this Wayne. I don’t know if you ever paint wet-in-wet but if you do this may help. Normally if I do a big sky like this I start at the top and work my washes down. That means if I start with blue at the top and goes towards yellow, there is an area in the middle that will turn greenish. But yesterday I worked differently. I wet the whole sky and then added some raw sienna at the bottom of the sky near the buildings. Then I went to the top and added cobalt or cobalt mixed with a bit of burnt sienna. And even though the areas blended I never got green. That’s why I love watercolour. I am always discovering new things. Every day is a science project!
You are right about watercolour being like a science project… I love your composition Shari and the sky is wonderful. One of these days I will try the wet-in-wet treatment. I am still working on “no lines” for the moment
I’m going to try that for sure. Thanks Shari.