ArtBistro

 I tend to see a lot of color in a sky at various times of the day. When I first started painting, not so much, but more so now. Simple things like how it gets lighter the closer to the horizon it gets. Besides cerulean or manganese, I often see other blues, as well as whites, pinks, yellows etc., and not just at sunset or sunrise. My eye sees things different than a camera does.

When I look at a sky, I do think about color, and how I would indicate it in different mediums. Sometimes the color changes from day to day or from hour to hour. Cloud color as well.

 I've tried painting at night. Its a little tricky because if you have too much light to see what you are doing, it destroys your night vision (an urban scene may be different). I understand that Van Gogh sometimes had candles attached to his hat, although some of his night scenes were painted from memory. Here is an article about a show of his related to night currently up in Amsterdam:

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article5926017.ece

 Skies are important in my landscapes. Sometimes it might be a sliver, other times they might dominate a painting.

I also like Whistler's Nocturnes that are night scenes painted from memory. This article examines a couple in the second half:

http://artbistro.monster.com/news/articles/9342-james-mcneill-whistler

He actually went to court to defend his painting of Nocturnes and the nature of Art.

Sanjoe, No two skies are ever alike so how can there be a formula? I would say you would have to use your best judgment each time you approach this subject.

Bull,.....Clouds are so delicate and so hard to capture! Now that's a question! The randomness of them are hard for me, mine always come out liked floating two-ton mash potatoes....

Wow Jon. thank you for the awesome links! You are sooo prolific. As far as sky colors go (daytime), I have experimented with many mixes. Like sanjoe, I have included: cerulean blue, ultramarine, greens, pale or cadmium yellows, reds (alizarin crimsom and cadmium--), oranges, and whatever else I can throw in to the mix. As I've noticed the night sky colors lately, it seems that all these can be included on different levels and intesities. Clouds are essential to think about while painting sky. How to capture the whimsy and transience of them is an ongoing challenge. I've been experimenting recently with glue and the effects produced when mixed with paint. especially with the water based paints, then rubbed out to reveal the texture of clouds.

But what the hell do I know? Thanks for inspiring me to do more!  I love this thread!

Yes, Jon ..........the clouds can be so different, and I have also noticed this when traveling and being in different states in the USA,

and even in different countries the clouds as well as the sky can be so different.

Thanks Jon about the interesting comments on what the artists of the times may have seen in the sky when painting them.

I now will look more closely at the painted skies next time I am in our local museum to check out  the different paintings from well known artists in the past that are in those galleries. Good point you brought up.............

Don't hold an umbrella if you are painting clouds in a thunderstorm. I stayed on my porch, we had a few thousand lightning strikes in an hour or two. No fire, thankfully it was raining. Last year the fires were very bad from lightening strikes.

One local person got hit by lightening because she was observing the storm holding an umbrella. Lighting hit a tree then went to the umbrella and hit her. This happened a couple of days ago. She is dead.

I live in California now, but I remember seeing lighting storms from my grandparents porch as a kid in Illinois on their farm. I was very impressed.

There are stories about Turner lashing himself to a mast to observe storms while at sea.

Has anyone noticed the different sky colors and clouds in an industrial area vs. in the country area a few miles away ?

 There is a lot of material about cloud and sky painting in books and on the web. Here is one resource I found on the web:

http://painting.about.com/od/howtopaintcloudsandsky/How_to_Paint_Clouds_and_Sky.htm

Take the advice there with a grain of salt. This is just an example of one of many sites on the subject. There is not one right way to paint clouds and skies, and I vary my approach. Like sometimes I may use cobalt with a touch of alizarin crimson in upper areas, and more cerulean with a bit of thalo green towards the bottom. But I also often use other blues, or interweave other color with little or no mixing, often with visible brush strokes, after starting out with thinner, larger, areas of color. Skies and light can vary from day to day. Clouds also have a range of tints and forms.

An added bit of interest is that a tube of color from one manufacturer can look different from another, I often use two types of alizarin crimson in one painting as one example.

But it is interesting to look at ways others approach it. Including studying paintings by masters of the subject.

The link has reference photos of clouds for artists, but I prefer to paint outside or use my own photos for reference of the scene if its an extended painting.

Some concerns mentioned in this topic could translate to other mediums or approaches including computer art.

I like your pastel album mroseland. I use pastels also.

Stroke work can bring out sky and cloud color in both oil and chalk pastels, as well as the more blended effects. Degas had interesting approach using a combination of oil paint and chalk pastel. There is a lot of overlap between painting and pastel. Sometimes they are included in painting categories of juried exhibits, although they are usually separate. I think there was a topic a while back related to pastel and painting, and if pastel is a painting or a drawing medium.

That is a great topic. For the longest time when I was young , I only saw blue sky. I did not even noticed clouds. The somehow, sometime for somreason I discovered clouds and stardet noticing all the beautifull colors in the sky. I still do not have any explanation how that happened, but I am greafull that it did happened.

I can remember my first time painting on location with my watercolors and sitting there and trying to mix just the right color i was seeing in the sky and then pre-wetting my paper surface and letting the paint flow and do its thing. WOW!! talk about being out of control this was it with a capitol" T". You learn to work fast and not to over kill in that few seconds and sponge in hand just in case.

When i was in elementary school my family planned driving trip for vacation that started at sunrise.  The sky was full of crimson and violet shredded with altostratus clouds.  I stayed awake with my head against the window.  When i returned home i placed my bed by the window, and removed my curtains.  My friends and family now groan when i suggest traveling at 4 in the morning.