Skill Builders
The Sky’s the Limit
Learn how to paint six essential skies to bring life and light
to your landscapes.
By Lyn Asselta
E
nglish painter John Constable
(1776–1837) once said, “That
landscape painter who does not
make his skies a very material part of
his composition neglects to avail him-
self of one of his greatest aids.”
What a brilliant reminder! The sky
dictates all the light, or lack thereof,
that falls on the landscape below.
Even if your painting doesn’t include
any visible sky at all, the landscape
will give clues about what’s happening
up above simply by the quality of light
on the objects in your painting. Even
the temperature of the light in your
painting offers glimpses into the time
or atmospheric qualities of the day.
The sky presents us with myriad
personalities: sunrise, foggy
mornings, a noon without shadows,
the yellowy gray before a storm,
a perfect blue summer afternoon,
the golden hour, a cold indigo night
filled with stars. Patterns of clouds
and color in the sky never repeat
themselves from one minute to the
next, so they shouldn’t do so in your
paintings, either.
As an artist, the challenge to
painting landscapes is to infuse the
sky in your painting with life, move-
ment, mass, mystery and light. Let’s
take a look at six common types of
skies—and a few things to consider
when painting each of them.Rainy Sky
When painting a rainy sky, movement and direction are
paramount. As for clouds, think about the moisture they’re
holding. Rain clouds are darker, heavier and flatter near
the bottom, and airier and lighter as they reach skyward.
Consider the visual “weight” of the clouds and the way the
rain is falling from them. Is it a misty rain? A downpour? Is the
rain being moved about by wind? Are there places where the
clouds dissipate and the sky shows through? What’s obscured
in your line of vision by the rain? Move your painting hand in
the direction in which the rain is falling.Escalate (6x6)16 Pastel Journal AUGUST 2019