PAINTING SKIES
Nothing can replace direct
observation... Carry a small
sketchpad wherever you go
BELOW Rob Dudley,
The Walker,
Harford Moor,
watercolour on
paper, 25x40cmABOVE John
Constable, Cloud
Study: Stormy
Sunset, oil on
paper on canvas,
20.3x27.3cm
a landscape compared to that on a
bright sunny day. Understanding skies
will make for a greater understanding
of landscape painting – and the best
way to get to know changes in the
skies is to observe and record.
Constable spent many hours
looking at, and producing sketches,
drawings and paintings of, what was
above him. (He once wrote to a friend
that he had done “a good deal of
skying”.) His approach to carefully
recording skies and cloud shapes atdifferent times of the day was almost
like a scientific investigation, so
accurate were his observations.
His hours of study were rewarded, for
with such an understanding of skies,
he was able to paint them so that they
appeared to be full of light and air.
Like Constable, in order to paint
convincing skies and to make best
use of them, one has to get to know
them. Photographs are useful,
particularly when the effect is fleeting- a rainbow or burst of sunlight,
for example. However, working from
life allows us to look, assess and
understand more completely than
working from photographs ever will.
Nothing can replace direct
observation. Get into the habit of
carrying a small sketchpad and
pencil with you wherever you go and
use it regularly to record skies at
various times of the day.PLOTTING A SKY
When planning a painting it is good
practice to consider sky and land on
equal terms as each will have a direct
result on the other. For example, if the
focus of attention is to be on the
landscape, a sky that is too busy
might take the attention away from
that focus. The same, obviously
Artists & Illustrators 75