Who can’t paint clouds? Me — or at least I couldn’t until I finished this course… Still need lots of practice, but I learned alot, too!
First Published October 14, 2023: Jen Buchanan’s course on painting cloudy skies was just what I needed to try to get better at painting clouds with acrylics. I had no idea how hard clouds were (although I know I have avoided them in most of my landscapes for a long time) until I was forced to focus on these projects. And it wasn’t easy, either. I started over three times, which is a first for me (the beauty of canvas boards). I had no problem getting a nicely graded sky or a beautiful blue sea. But the clouds were very difficult for me. Either they were too big, to drastically shadowed or too colorful — which would have been fun for an abstraction, but that wasn’t my goal.
Jen’s teaching style is very different from any of the other classes I have taken. She uses presentation slides to emphasize themes, rules and reminders. She speaks clearly and slowly, as if she is reading, but not in a boring way. Her style was very comfortable for someone used to college instructors, teachers and lecturers. Very professional.
Ultimately I wasn’t thrilled with my finished product, but it certainly wasn’t because of Jen’s excellent delivery. I will need to practice these more if I want to create acrylic landscapes.
My finished landscape:
One of my do-overs was to change from Portrait to Landscape orientation. Once I took the photo, my camera showed what I could not easily see: The strokes from the Portrait are showing through to the latest version. Lesson Learned: Add an extra coat of Gesso before doing over.
This course is another one in the Art Bundles for Good package. The proceeds from sales of the package go to Courageous Kitchen which serves at risk youth in Thailand. Perfect for me: Have fun and support good works at the same time.
Have a great week painting…