Rule 2 | Work with line bundles
Lesson 3 | Drawing Clouds
30 min.
White clouds drifting by,
Artist sketches them with ease,
Nature’s beauty captured.
(Haiku from the past.)
Step 1 | Watch, read and see what you need for sketching
A video introduction and some descriptions
Watch the video and grab on your mobile phone for clouds.
Script
Hello. Happy sketching. We draw clouds. How do we start it, and how are clouds drawn? Let’s have a closer look at the clouds. What are the characteristics of the clouds? They are flat on the sides that look towards the earth and they are rather round and fluffy up here. They have different materials and different shapes that go and lead to the form.
So I start with those down parts. They are going to be smaller in the background. So here they are smaller and they are going to be larger in the foreground. I have to decide where my cloud wants to start and where my clouds end. This is not so easy but give the line a little bit of weight. Work with line bundles. Still. Rule number two.
There are in-betweens. Try to find typical lines for your clouds here. The down part is a little bit darker. I fill it with a little bit of grey and I bring it to the form. Round here, round here. Many lines around here. And here on almost the horizon, we have a lot of kinds of cumuli. I add this and here are my clouds. Maybe the landscape same way. More than just one line. So crossing lines, line bundles the street. This is a little bit faster. And the woods here. So the forest border of the root here. And then this is going to be the forest in the foreground. I’m working like this. Sorry, there wasn’t all on the picture.
Now it is better to try it out. Google, scroll through your pictures on your mobile phones, and get some clouds. Clouds are everywhere. And try to sketch clouds. This is important.
When sketching clouds, there are a few important things to keep in mind:
Overall, the most important thing when sketching clouds is to observe and appreciate their unique beauty and try to capture that in your artwork.
Take your time to observe clouds!
Pay attention to the shape and form of the clouds. Clouds can take on many different shapes, from fluffy cumulus clouds to long, wispy cirrus clouds. Try to capture the unique shape of the clouds you are observing.
Consider the lighting and shadows. Clouds can cast interesting shadows and be illuminated in different ways depending on the position of the sun. Paying attention to these details can make your sketch more realistic.
Use a light touch and bold lines, both of them will help you to capture the form. Use light, feathery strokes to capture the ethereal quality of the clouds. But clouds are not only soft and fluffy, so you need contrasts and use as well hard lines or heavy shading., use light, feathery strokes to capture the ethereal quality of the clouds.
Material can inspire
Also, try using a felt tip pen.
Whenever you change the pen, it can lead to inspiration. Sometimes an old pen with a dull lead is good, sometimes a fountain pen, or even just a coloured pencil.
It is important to test again and again which pen and above all which pen width is the right one. Small drawings need fine pens, large drawings should be made with a wide tool. Try it out!
ASSIGNMENT | Sketch some cloudy skies
Take several large sheets of paper, A3 might be good. Try to sketch the larger clouds first, the ones closest to you, with bundles of lines. For the clouds closer to the horizon, you may want to use just the fine fluttering lines.
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