Tips for Painting Clouds

Skies and Cloud Stenciling

Here are some tips and ideas that I have taught in clinics and to other modeling friends. This technique takes practice and perseverance. I have stenciled with sponge application, spray application and of course, dry brush, but nothing beats spray for speed.

I have used large stencils with children for murals, posters , and scenery for plays, projects, and art work.

Stenciling has the benefit of immediate success. Once the painter realizes the needs of a dry bush and a little amount of paint, success usually follows. It is always best to practice on large cardboard, poster, or a wall that you are willing to repaint.

Creating distance or a quick lesson in perspective!

Smaller objects appear further away
Overlapped objects appear behind
Objects in the distance have softer edges
Objects in the distance appear grayer
Lower objects seem further away
Higher objects appear closer

Supplies:

Oak tag stencils see: Walther's catalogue, New London Industries : or for the do it-yourselfer make your own stencils. The nice thing about homemade is that your cloud shapes are not on somebody else's backdrop.

Spray Paint (Krylon Variety) Flat White, Light Gray
Latex Gloves
Protective mask- breathing type
Eye goggles

Making Stencils:

Take slides of desired weather conditions, sharp clear edges of clouds are best
Project slides onto wall.
Hold (length wise)oak tag (at least 12x18 sheets or bigger) against wall and trace random edges of clouds
Cut with sharp knife, razor, or embroidery scissors
The result is two stencils
Produce 8-10 different stencils for best results

Preparation:

Sand, spackle, or fill gouges, resand with finer grade paper, and prime two coats
Paint two coats
- I use Sherwin William's #SW1787 Baby Blue or Sherwin William's #BM 33-4 Universe Blue, which is a more intense blue than Baby Blue. Any other good quality latex is fine, but avoid greenish blues or purplish blues
Decide what type of clouds: stratus, cumulus- this will somewhat be determined by your stencils
Decide what type of weather a (i.e. arid desert will have more intense blue with less horizon haze, but urban areas will have smog and haze.

Procedure:

VENTILATE THE ROOM!!!!!
Faintly sketch in main clouds
How to use stencils
- Hold by the straight edge
- Float the stencil above the surface
Change stencils often
Never spray near the side edge
Change position of stencils between blasts of paint: clouds will appear 3-D with the different layers of paint
For the tops of clouds- hold the stencil 1/2 inch away from wall, giving a sharp edge
For the bottoms of the clouds-hold stencil 1-2 inches away from wall, giving a soft fuzzy edge
Begin with the small horizon clouds: these multiple horizon clouds will receive overspray from the clouds above them, thereby creating atmospheric haze

Helpful Hints:

Keep clouds random and uneven
Atmospheric haze is valuable in creating the feel of distance, the haze should be gradual from intense blue to bluish white at the horizon. This happens automatically from the overspray, just as long as you start at the bottom of your back drop.
Decrease cloud size from top to bottom of backdrop
Use paint sparingly
Overlap edges (especially in the lower areas)
Stencil interior edges inside the larger clouds
PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE
For modules, have partial clouds go off the ends of your backdrop or show just the bottom of an overhead cloud

From a reader! Dan Crockett

My layout room is 12'6" x 33'4" and I have three walls painted with clouds on intense blue sky (that's what we have in the west). I used the stencil idea with Krylon spray for the clouds, but for the darker clouds, I found that Krylon Aluminum is very effective and realistic--much more so than the use of gray. Of course, one must use it lightly.

Also, always paint the sky and clouds before painting mountains or buildings in order to get a three dimensional effect. Don't be afraid of the sky and clouds coming through. The mountains and buildings will hide them just as they do in real life.

Finally, eastern mountains have much more haze than western mountains. Use a white, LIGHT overspray to simulate the haze and give the effect of mountains in the distance.

Cautions or some common mistakes:

Clouds are too solid from too much paint, the best way to keep clouds airy is with short bursts of spray and keep moving the stencil to the next area
Use light gray very lightly, only on the underside of your darkest cloud, apply gray first then apply white, the use of inclement weather can be very effective.
Never spray near the straight edges of a stencil, it is impossible to remove that hard white edge, if this mistake happens, the easiest solution is to repaint over the goof with your sky blue.
Watch out for repeated shapes, the human eye quickly picks up on identical forms and lines, avoid this by changing stencils and having a large number of stencils, let them dry and flip them for more variety of shape
Try your best not to hit the recently sprayed paint with your stencil, fingers, hat bill, etc. It's best to spray in a small area, say 18 inches or so, then move on, to return to the dry area and add more clouds higher on the backdrop

Good Luck with your stenciling efforts!