Many landscape paintings miss this key ingredient Your first step to enhancing your paintings with expressive skies We'll focus on improving on photos for paintings, designing with your heart, understanding front lighting and painting towering clouds and warm light. This is a small lesson from a larger course that I'm building, which will be called Painting Expressive Skies. I expect that to take me 6 months or more. I'm already three months into it. I thought it'd be nice for you to see this one for free, just to whet your appetite for painting expressive skies, and also just to get some feedback from you. If you have any constructive criticism, I'd love to hear from you. This demo is in acrylics but it's fine for oils too. Just 6 steps I’ll guide you all the way. Design Our job as artists is to bring people's attention to what we find beautiful. In order to do that you need to first identify what those things are for you, and then enhance or exaggerate them. In this one it was towering clouds and warm light. Preparing the surface It's worth putting in the time to get your painting surface ready to work on. This is an MDF board with 3 coats of acrylic gesso primer and a light toned base coat of yellow ochre plus white. This will help warm the painting and shimmer against the blue-greys. Sky The sky gradation is the first building block. We can add more warmth into the sky gradation to enhance the feel of the sunset light. Expressive Clouds Here's your chance to practice making more variety in your paintings, which makes them more interesting to paint and more interesting to view. Create variety in: Shapes - big vs small, complex vs simple. Colour - warm vs cool, vibrant vs greyed. Edges - soft vs hard. Texture - smooth vs rough, thin vs thick. You need all that variety to keep things interesting and expressive. Foreground Detail Adding small details in the foreground makes the clouds appear even larger. So by painting one, you're enhancing the other. If you want the style to remain painterly and expressive throughout, you can create the detail using texture, rather than tiny descriptive brushstrokes. Finshing Touches A fine signing brush can add a few crisp details like seagulls and floatsam on the beach to add a touch of realism and scale. I'll take you step by step through this whole rich process and you can choose which parts you'd like to try out in your own work. Enjoy!
This guide accompanies the full video lesson. The lesson includes the complete narrated video, the printable PDF chapter, and personalised critique support.
Front lighting occurs when the light source is behind the viewer, causing shadows to be pushed to the sides of objects. This creates a subtle gradation from light to shadow as objects curve away from the viewer.
How do shadows behave in a front lighting situation?
In a front lighting situation, shadows are pushed to the outside of objects and appear on the edges of rounded forms. The transition from light to shadow is very subtle, with the darkest shadows on the sides of the object.
Does front lighting result in flat color on objects?
No, front lighting does not result in flat color. While the lighting is very light, there is a subtle gradation from light into shadow, creating depth and form.
Why is front lighting considered a nice light effect in painting?
Front lighting is considered a nice light effect because it creates a beautiful, warm atmosphere, especially during the evening with the yellow hues of a setting sun.
In this chapter, I set out to guide you through the process of capturing the mesmerizing beauty of tropical skies with front lighting. From the initial block-in to the final details, we've explored how to harness the warm, bold colors of a sunset and the subtle gradations of light and shadow that front lighting offers. My hope is that you now feel more confident in using these techniques to create your own expressive skies, filled with depth and atmosphere.
We've delved into the importance of preparing your canvas with a warm base layer and protecting it to maintain the integrity of your painting. By carefully selecting your palette and understanding the nuances of color mixing, you've learned to create dynamic skies and clouds that convey movement and emotion. The journey through painting the ocean and beach has shown how to use texture and color to bring your scene to life.
As you continue your painting journey, remember that each brushstroke is an opportunity for expression. Embrace the unexpected, and let your artistic instincts guide you. I hope this chapter has inspired you to explore new techniques and to see the world through the lens of a painter, ever curious and eager to capture the beauty around you.
Points to remember
Embrace the bold, warm colors of a sunset to enhance your sky.
Use front lighting to create subtle depth with light and shadow.
Prepare your canvas with a warm base layer for color harmony.
Protect your base layer with gloss medium varnish if using interactive acrylics.
Select a palette that allows for vibrant and harmonious color mixing.
Work from light to dark to maintain color vibrancy in the sky.
Use impasto techniques to add texture and depth to clouds.
Vary shapes and colors to keep your painting engaging and natural.
