Painting Skies in Acrylics by Linda MacAulay
Artists Blogs - July 2010
This month I wanted to write about painting skies. I get lots of comments both positive and negative about my skies. I paint predominantly clear blue skies using a graduated variegated wash in both watercolour and acrylic. This month I will write about how to achieve this effect in acrylics.
The painting pictured on the left of the open road features a graduated variegated wash painted in acrylics. This type of sky adds to the illusion of distance and the lighter colours along the horizon line serve to draw the viewer deeper into the picture.
As an artist I love the drama of a great cloudy sky and people often think that clouds are difficult to paint. It is actually much more difficult to paint a graduated variegated wash than clouds as some of my students recently discovered. Often some of the simplest things are the hardest to achieve when painting.
My primary reason for not painting lots of cloudy skies is that they simply do not sell as well as the clear blue skies. The majority of my customers purchase a painting to evoke a memory of a place they have been. They generally want something that is beautiful and evokes feelings of warmth and happiness.
Painting a graduated, variegated sky using acrylics.
I paint all my skies in acrylics using at least 3 coats of paint thinned with a mixture of water, flow medium and acrylic painting medium. The thinned down paint allows for smooth blending but becomes more transparent requiring you to use a number of coats to achieve a solid finish. I find that a good quality heavy weight canvas will make blending the skies much easier. I use a 12oz cotton pre primed canvas. I like my canvasses stretched very tight so that I can use strong firm brush strokes when blending. The paint seems to slip all over on the cheaper canvasses and it can be very difficult to get a good clean blend. I also paint on linen and find it beautiful to work on but very expensive.
The first step in painting a sky is always to premix my paints to the right colour and more importantly consistency. I mix all the colours I frequently use in separate jars so that I can use them again and again without having to colour match them.
I use the Matisse flow range of paints as they have a smoother consistency to begin with and need less mixing. I don’t use any colours straight out of the tube as I always have to thin them down even further to create such a smooth look.
I always "warm" my sky colours up a little when I am mixing colours for an outback scene by adding a touch of red to help create that sense of warmth and unity with the reds of the earth. If I am painting an ocean scene I will not add any red thus keeping my blues cool.
In the pictures below I am using Cobalt Blue as an example of how I mix the paints. Using a palette knife I put some Cobalt Blue paint into the jar. I then add a small amount of Permanent Magenta to the mix to create a warmer colour which is blue with a hint of purple. I then add a mix of one third flow medium, one third acrylic painting medium and one third water to dilute the paint. I am only giving a ratio here as the amount of mediums I add to the paint mix depends on how thick the paint is to start with. If the paint already is quite smooth I will add less. If it has a fair amount of structure to it I will add more. The aim is to end up with something the consistency of cream out of a carton. You should be able to easily pour the mixture but it should not be watery.
 |
 |
 |
| Mixing the mediums and paint in a separate jar allows you to use the same colour in subsequent coats. |
Adding a touch of Permanent Magenta to "warm" the cool blue up and mixing together with the mediums. |
Mixing Australian Sky Blue with Magenta and the mediums with a palette knife to a smooth consistency |
Once all your paints are mixed to a "pouring cream" like consistency then I prepare my canvas by spraying it with a 50/50 mixture of water and drying retarder. Using a house painting brush I evenly brush this over the whole area sky area including the edges of my canvas.
 |
 |
 |
| I make a 50/50 mixture of drying retarder and water up in a spray bottle |
Then I spray the mixture onto the blank canvas. |
Once the canvas is saturated I use a house painting brush to spread the mixture evenly over the canvas |
I am now ready to start the first coat of paint for my sky. I use a number of good quality 2 and 1/2 inch house painting brushes to apply the paint. I use a new brush for each colour I apply. If I try to wash them out between each colour they get wet and add too much water to the mixture. It is important to work quickly at this stage and blend the colours before they dry.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Here I am loading my brush with my white that has been premixed in a jar with the mediums and a touch of Light Gold to create a warm white. |
Using a firm even brush stroke I paint this colour along evenly along the horizon line. |
Then I load a new brush up with my Sky Blue mix and brush it in a continuous line above the white paint. |
Once I have applied the blue mixture I use the same brush to blend the join between the 2 colours. I use long continuous stokes and a fair amount of pressure to blend the colours . |
I repeat these steps with each colour. The next colour is the Cobalt Blue mix with a touch of Permanent Magenta followed by a mix of Ultramarine Blue with a touch of Permanent Magenta. Once I have all the colours on I then go over the whole painting from the horizon line to the top of the canvas with a clean dry brush. I use long horizontal strokes that start on the left hand side and go all the way to the right hand side of the canvas. I then come back with another stroke from right to left that over laps the bottom stroke by 1/3. Once I have brushed over the whole canvas like this the paint is much smoother. You can only do this step while the paint is still wet. Once it starts to skin you will ruin your blending.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Adding in the Cobalt Blue Mix. |
The first coat dries streaky as it is semi transparent and you can see the white canvas beneath. |
I work on a number of canvasses at a time leaving each to dry a minimum of 4 hours between coats. I leave them overnight if the weather is cold. |
The final coat is smooth and has quite a matt finish. |
Once you have applied all the colours leave the canvas to dry thoroughly. I leave it a minimum of 4 hours between coats but overnight if the weather is cold and damp as it so often is in Melbourne. Then I repeat the whole process and apply another 2 coats allowing drying time in between. I start each coat by spraying on the Drying retarder mix. The final coat should be smooth with minimal blending marks and has an almost matt look. Then I am ready to put in the details.
This month has just flown by. I had a wonderful and inspiring time at Lightning Ridge. I painted a few little pictures in my hand made artist book from Hands on Paper. You can find out where to purchase these wonderful artists books by following the link. www.gailstiffe.info/ These books are currently avaliable through the Alcove Art Shop in Box Hill. www.alcoveartshop.org.au I finished this one and went to stand up and noticed the patterns in the dried clay where just as beautiful as the scene I was painting.
I did manage to find a lovely opal......at the "Lost Sea Opals" shop. I think I went in every day to see their great range of contemporary jewelery. www.lostseaopals.com.au/
I also visited the gallery of artist John Murray which was totally inspirational. Have a look at his skies on his Website. As the election is coming up check out his painting of Tony Abbott in his budgie smugglers. You'll definitely get a laugh. www.johnmurrayart.com.au/Shop/Originals/tabid/739/Default.aspx
His homepage is www.johnmurrayart.com.au/
The recent Push the Boundaries of Watercolour workshop was great with all the participants having fun and producing some great works.
I have a Beginners Watercolour Workshop coming up on the 7 th of August at Arts on Burgundy. The details are on the Website under workshops. I will also be running an ongoing class in watercolour for all students during term 4.
Next month I will be packing my exhibition to go to Uluru in September but will still have works on display at Dragonfly Gallery in Hurstbridge www.dragonflygalleryhurstbridge.com/ and The Stonehouse Gallery in Warrandyte www.stonehousegallery.com/
If you enjoyed this blog please take the time to sign up to my email newsletter and I will email you out this blog and some other info from time to time. Feel free to pass it on.
Happy painting for July and August from Linda.