Painting Clouds, Morning Promise, studio painting by Everglades artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

Morning Promise

30x40 Sold

Morning Promise is a studio painting I've been working on over the last couple of weeks. The water reflections will be a little bit more defined, and the background brush will have a little more contrast before the finish.

This is a commission, and my client is coming on Monday to view, so I'll be finishing up this afternoon. I've got a second painting ready, too, something I often do for commissions. That way the client has a choice, and I have another nice painting for the shows.

While working, the clouds reminded me of a few years ago when I was teaching my first class and someone asked about painting clouds. We discussed them, I did a demo, but wasn't really prepared to "teach" them. My observations of clouds hadn't translated into intellectual knowledge in a way easy to pass on. Today I'm better prepared for cloud questions.

Clouds are part of almost every day here in South Florida. Observe them to determine their inherent character. There are several different kinds, and they each have their own particular characteristics. Sometimes there are several types in the sky at the same time. Here are a few basic hints for painting them.

1. Design your painting and determine where the horizon will be, and how much will be sky.
2. Determine the wind direction, usually from particular quarter of the sky.
3. Start with a grayed-down color darker than you need. Build the volume first.
4. Paint Quickly. Once your clouds are blocked in, don’t worry that the shapes in the sky change.
5. Clouds are made of water, so they will reflect what’s around and below them—the blue sky, the warm earth.
6. Use a mix of warm colors where the sun hits and cooler colors on the underside and in shadow.
7. Observe the density. Dense clouds reflect more light, edges are sometimes transparent.
8. Use atmospheric regression for clouds, too.
9. Overhead clouds are lighter and larger than those further away.
10. Clouds are warmest just above the horizon.

If you're observant, I'll bet you can add a few of your own!

Light and Atmospheric Perspective in the Florida Landscape, painting by Everglades artist JoAnn Sanborn

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This painting was commissioned to go along side another, similar painting as part of the paintings for the new First Third Bank. It took more time than I had hoped, and I had to fight to made it similar to it's companion piece and yet varied enough for interest. I hope both pieces will look terrific in their new location.

Light and Atmospheric progression were very much on my mind, and I thought you might like to learn more about them. In the landscape, if you paint what you see, you may not get what you want! This is because it’s not easy to translate the huge expanse of open land you see onto a small canvas ground. Using techniques involving the progression of light and the properties of the atmosphere can help translate the space and volume of the landscape on a small canvas in a way that reflects reality.

Creating atmospheric space in a painting means to understand how light affects the landscape. When working outside, the light source is always natural light. Light changes as the sun moves through the sky, and the colors you choose to use in your captured moment should also change to reflect this movement.

Objects near the sun, provider of light in the natural landscape, are warmer than those farther away from the sun. The colors used to portray the sky, clouds, and landscape nearest to the sun should be warmer colors than those used to portray the sky, clouds, and landscape furthest away from the sun.

In addition, because there is moisture in the atmosphere which blocks some of the light, the landscape colors cool and gray as they recede into the distance. Objects near to the viewer, in the foreground of the landscape will be sharper and brighter than objects further back in the space of the canvas.

A dark mass in the distance will become softer and lighter than one up close, and become lighter still where it touches the sky. Clouds will be brighter and more defined close to the sun. Most of the reds and yellow disappear from the distant land masses as they recede, leaving the landscape blue and purple in the distance. Details of near flowers or objects soften or are lost in the distant view.

Value is also an important consideration. Areas in sunlight are almost always above middle gray in value, and areas in shadow are almost always below middle gray in value. Values, too, are muted as they recede from the light. Don’t forget the mass values, either, where the upright planes are always darker then the horizontal plane because the light source is the sky.

In south Florida the light is most often very warm, or yellow, but there will be days that are cooler and bluer. Overcast days can be either warm or cool depending on the underlying heat in the sky. Sometimes at sunset or sunrise pink or yellow will pervade the sky and infuse the landscape with colored light. These are magic moments to be enjoyed and celebrated in paint!

Art rules will be rules, meant to be tested and sometimes broken. First you must know them, and make a conscious decision to go your own way. If it’s not working out, returning to the “rules” will often help get your painting back on track! Get out there and observe, again and again, and you will not be disappointed!

Skies and Clouds, Late Autumn Studio Paining by Everglades Artist JoAnn Sanborn

Late Autumn

16x20

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When we look at the sky to paint it, our first question is to ask if the sky is active or quiet. If active, our whole painting might take on the feeling of the wind moving over the landscape. It will affect the way we portray the trees, grasses, and any other part of the landscape that can be affected by the wind. Sometimes, it's only high above that we see the clouds racing by, and the earth remains somewhat quiet. Whichever it may be, remember that they feeling of your sky will affect the rest of the painting, and that they must not conflict. Learning to put volume into your sky is one of the most basic challenges of the landscape painter. But anyone who has spent any time looking up will know that the sky is like and upturned bowl, and that the sky color at the very top is usually very, very different from the sky color at the horizon. If you can follow this color change all the way to the background in the painting, your sky will have volume and will recede into the distance and give your landscape volume. Generally, the clouds overhead are much larger than you would expect, and clouds in the distance shrink in size and fade in color just like the rest of the landscape does as it recedes. The sky is most often cool in color, and the sunlit clouds are usually warmer. Up close the undersides of the clouds are usually darker and more ragged, but still much lighter than land. As clouds are seen in the distance, their bases become flatter and there image sharper and clearer. The also be come smaller, and will be warmer in color as they near the land. Practically, it will help to have your brightest clouds nearer to center of interest of your painting. Much of the painting above was done with a palette knife, and there's a nice sense of clouds and movement in the sky.