I think that one of my most favorite subjects to paint with my pastels is clouds and the sky. There are many different forms of sky: dark and threatening, morning-fresh delicate and pale, angry, red-streaked sundown skies….oh, my…just think of what to paint makes my “painting fingers” just itch!
There are just a few suggestions – not rules – before starting to paint skies. In elementary school all of us learned to put a strip of blue sky at the top of our paper to show the sky. No, no, no! I teach my students that the sky goes all the way down and “kisses” the ground! It is a silly statement, but if you look outside during the day, do you see a long strip of blue up in the clouds? No! The sky is drawn all the way down to the ground!
Clouds are wonderful to paint! They can be big and heavy with dark rain or snow, they can shimmer at night with moonlight, they can reflect the glorious colors of a setting or rising sun, they can be lacy or even have what are called “mare’s tails” whipping across the sky! And, clouds are NOT to be drawn gray…they are a mixture of green, yellow and blue…sometimes black pastel!
Video: How to Make Sky and Clouds in Chalk Pastels
Enjoy this short, three minute tutorial on how to make beautiful clouds!
Art for All Ages: 10 Days of Tutorials and Tips
Here’s what you can expect each of these 10 days! The following links will be live on each day as we go through the series:
- Your First Easy Lesson in Chalk Pastel Art
- How to Make Sky and Clouds in Chalk Pastels
- But Chalk Pastels Get Everywhere!
- Fistin’ Technique with Chalk Pastels (with tutorial)
- What is Painterly Effect in Chalk Pastel Art? (with tutorial)
- Skumbling
- Train Your Students to See Nature
- Chalk Pastel Art Tutorial
- Art is For Parents too!
- The Ultimate List of Art Fun and Encouragement
More on Chalk Pastels
More on Chalk Pastels- A note on chalk pastels: Pastels are an easy, forgiving medium. Fun for children and adults alike! Details on the pastels and paper we use, how and where to purchase, and links to all of Nana’s other pastel lessons (50+ free lessons now) are all contained in the post Pastels plus links to tutorials. A simple set is very affordable. View the choices in the Southern Hodgepodge store. Nana also teaches acrylic lessons.
- The practical aspects of a mess: Pastels are blessedly messy. We always have baby wipes close by to wipe hands. We wear something we don’t mind getting stained or don a smock.
- Encouragement: You Can Be an Artist! 10 Day series
- Have you subscribed to Hodgepodge on YouTube?
It’s an autumn hopscotch with iHomeschool Network! Be sure to visit all the wonderful bloggers! It’s a fabulous page full of categories and 10 days worth of topics!
**Thanks for joining us for Art for All Ages. We invite you to subscribe to Hodgepodge via email so you won’t miss any free tutorials! You can also join us and help spread the word about our 10 day series on Pinterest, YouTube, Google +, Facebook and Twitter. Thanks in advance for helping Hodgepodge.**
Have fun with your pastels…go out in the sunshine today or tomorrow and paint yourself a sky and clouds picture! Remember, you ARE an artist!
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