Painting

How to Paint Clouds in Acrylics Step by Step Guide

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Clouds were the first subject I learned to paint with acrylic paints.

It was quite intimidating at first, but I eventually progressed from painting just circles of white paint to painting clouds that I liked.

All with one technique that changed everything for me.

When painting clouds, you are not required to paint within lines, so you can be as creative as you want.

I found it difficult at first because I did not use complementary colors, resulting in a piece that was not cohesive or dimensional.

Everything changed when I discovered the right technique and colors.

For this particular study we are going for a simple skyscape which features a blue sky and fluffy clouds.

The technique we will be using to paint the clouds is called the dry brushing technique.

What is the dry brushing technique?

This is in the way we use our paint and brush.

To make the clouds fluffy, apply a small amount of paint at a time with a buffing motion.

The key is to use a light hand.

Essentially, you want a brush with small amounts of paint and just use small circular motions to work the paint in.

This technique will help you achieve distant cloud softness in your painting.

(video of the process at the end of post)

A person holding a bunch of paintbrushes in their hand against a white background.

How to paint clouds step-by-step

blue paint swiped across a white canvas with a flat brush.

Light blue acrylic paint being blended on the canvas.

A pale blue shade of acrylic paint added onto the canvas and blended with a paintbrush.

1.) First and foremost, we’ll create the base with a medium blue acrylic shade and a flat brush.

Apply the color to the canvas’s top.

Next, add a little white to the same blue shade as we move down to the middle of the canvas.

The bottom of the canvas should now be the lightest blue shade.

a purple shade of acrylic paint lightly brushed on a blue painted canvas with an orange colored paintbrush.

a darker muted purple shade of paint being dotted onto the canvas to create the shape of clouds.

a light peach shade of acrylic paint being added to the canvas in a dotting motion to create the edge of the clouds.the canvas is placed on a marble patterned counter.

2.) Using the same brush, I added the core shadow in clouds to give the illusion of depth.

I used peach and purple shades for this painting.

To create the edge of the clouds, I dabbed with that light peach color.

Next, using the dry brushing technique I blended the paint out.

In softening cloud edges, the painting starts to look airy.

Here, I avoided blending the very edge of the clouds so they keep that defined shape.

a dark peach shade of paint is being used on the canvas creating the image of soft clouds.

the orange shade of acrylic paint is being blended onto the canvas to create a soft cloud effect.

a darker muted purple acrylic paint is being brushed onto the blue background canvas creating more cloud shapes.

3.) Taking a deeper peach and purple shade, I continued using the same technique to buff out the paint.

For this step, I used the dark muted purple shade to create more cloud shapes.

Breaking up cloud shapes this way makes your clouds look natural, I did this with dotting my brush in different angles.

Tip: As mentioned before we need to keep the shape of the edge of the clouds, so do not buff the paint you first placed down to create your clouds. Blend away from the edge.

a white shade of paint is being brushed onto the canvas using a small paintbrush. The person is creating highlights of the clouds using the paint.

A hand holding an orange and black medium sized paintbrush blending in paint into a cloud shape. the canvas has cloud shapes and is placed on a marble patterned counter.

4.) We have now created cloud shapes and shadows.

Before I add the highlights, I let the layers dry because it helps with avoiding muddy clouds.

I then took a creamy white shade to the edges of the clouds dabbing lightly and then buffing out, this creates more dimension.

a closer photograph of blended paint of clouds. Light and dark shades of paint are shown blended into the canvas. the brush is also in view.

5.) With the leftover paint, buff further into other parts of the clouds where you want to add light.

a close up photo of a small pointy brush with white colored paint dotted on the canvas in shape of a raindrop.

6.) Here I am painting a skyscape window scene, I also added a raindrop effect.

If you want to paint raindrops on a window, use the blue paint from earlier to create a tiny horseshoe shape and then fill it in with a little white, gently blending the white to avoid harsh edges.