Nancy Silvia’s 7 Tips for Painting Clouds

 

Nancy Silvia’s 7 Tips for Painting Clouds

by Artists Network Staff
Big Virga (pastel, 29x42) by Nancy Silvia
Big Virga (pastel on paper, 29×42) by Nancy Silvia

The New Mexico sky comes alive with clouds during the summer monsoon season — delicate cumuli swell into towering thunderheads dragging dark brooms of rain across the mesa tops. Toward sundown, the tattered vestiges of storms glow orange and red and purple. Santa Fe painter Nancy Silvia moved to Santa Fe with her husband, fellow artist Hiroshi Murata, in 2003, and finds nourishment for her art in this expansive, high desert sky. Here, Silvia shares her tips for painting clouds.

Winter Chill (pastel on paper, 11×11) by Nancy Silvia

1. Say no to potatoes.

“Clouds are water vapor. They should not look like mashed potatoes in the sky.”

After the Storm (pastel on paper, 16×27) by Nancy Silvia

2. Keep your head in the clouds.

“Study clouds when outdoors even if you are not painting (but not when you are driving). Analyze their shapes and structure.”

The Red Road (pastel on paper, 12×16) by Nancy Silvia

3. Work quickly en plein air.

“When outdoors, work rapidly when trying to capture clouds. When ‘touching up’ later in the studio, you can consult your reference photos.”

Taos Winter Light (pastel on paper, 20×36) by Nancy Silvia

4. Go bold and accurate.

“You can patiently render plants, rocks, and other landforms, but clouds are fleeting, so paint them with boldness and accuracy.”

Moonrise at Ghost Ranch (pastel on paper, 16×12) by Nancy Silvia

5. To emphasize or not?

“Because clouds and the sky are part of the composition and light effect in a landscape painting, give a lot of thought to how much emphasis to give them.”

Evening Energy (pastel on paper, 8×8) by Nancy Silvia

6. Study the light.

“Clouds have volume, so study how they react with the light source. Are they lit from below, from above, or from behind? Do they cast shadows on the ground. Do they form a group in space?”

Last Light (pastel on paper, 9×12) by Nancy Silvia

7. Capture the colors.

“There is a great range of color in the sky; cloud colors may be infinitely subtle at certain times of day, or vivid and dramatic, as during sunset.”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

11 Must Have Watercolor Supplies for Beginners

Image
  11 Must Have Watercolor Supplies for Beginners   by  Matt Fussell Perhaps you’re an experienced watercolor artist, or maybe you’re just starting out. Either way, there are several supplies that I feel are essential. You may not use them all in every painting that you create, but if you’re looking to stock up, here’s what I suggest having in your tool box… 1. Watercolor Paints Well there’s no doubt that you’ll need watercolor paint. But what brand and what type you should use really becomes a personal choice. Let’s look at your options… First, a note on low quality brands of paint. There are plenty of low quality brands of watercolor. Watercolor can be made very cheaply and for the lower quality brands, the price reflects this. You’ll see the price that you pay reflected in the quality of your painting as well. Using low quality paints will just lead to frustration, so my suggestion is stay away from the cheaper brands. Watercolor  is produced in two main forms: Tub...
Read more

How To Get the Perfect Size Painting For Your Wall

Image
  How To Get the Perfect Size Painting For Your Wall CAROLINE MCDONALD   7 COMMENTS It all started with a comment a customer made on our oversized art,  Storm Over the Marsh  (above). The customer expressed how much she loved the print, only she wished it came in a smaller size. “That was our aha moment,” says our wall decor buyer, Karen. “We have all this great art, typically offered in a single size, and the fact is people’s homes and walls are not one size only.” Thanks to that one customer comment, we’re excited to introduce  new sizes  for 30 of our top-selling prints and new art. Most of the selected art is now available in three sizes — what we consider medium, large and extra large — but actual sizes vary according to the proportion of the individual piece. “Now’s the time to check back and see if an old favorite is in the size you need,” Karen urges. “We also have some fantastic new art we’re really excited about, too.” This is wonderful news,...
Read more

Art Material

Image
  Art Material Glossary Facts in books, information in glossaries, the ability to use them in our heads! If you are new to the arts you may have problems to decipher certain art material terms used in the arts field. Or you wonder what brand to get. To help you along, I added this little glossary as a guideline to make it easier to find the right materials when starting to draw or paint. Save Drawing Materials GRAPHITE PENCILS There are varied types of graphite pencils. When you buy a set, make sure that you get one with a 4h and 2h otherwise buy them single. All brands are really fine. I personally use the Faber Castell graphite and Staedler pencils. Staedler is cheaper and a little lighter than the Faber Castell. Faber Castell are the only pencils with an added inner core strength so that the pencils don't break inside when they fall. SKETCHPAD The paper we draw on is of importance. In my time as commercial illustrator I tried man...
Read more