Have You Tried the 3 COLOR Method for Painting Clouds? - Soft Pastel Tutorial

Have You Tried the 3 Color Method for Painting Clouds? - Soft Pastel Tutorial
Painting clouds seems like it should be easy, right? Grab a blue for the sky and some white and grays for some billowy clouds. However, we soon realize that this strategy results in a painting that is lifeless and amateur.
Clouds are actually full of color, and this 3 Color Method is a wonderful way to add vibrancy and energy to your cloud paintings!
I learned of this method from artist, Deborah Secor (an amazing artist and beautiful soul). She is so generous that she offers her full book on Pastel Landscape painting for FREE as a .pdf download. Below is the link to the book and also her chapter on painting clouds.
Full Landscape Painting Book: landscapesinpastel.blogspot.com/
Chapter 8 on Painting Clouds: landscapesinpastel.blogspot.co...
So try some of these exercises, and re-create from my tutorial if you like. If you share your results, please tag me on Instagram @SusanJenkinsArtist , and on Facebook @TheArtofSusanJenkins. Have FUN!
Products in This Lesson:
Canson MiTientes Gray Tones Pastel Paper: amzn.to/3z57FVr
Pastelmat Pastel Paper: amzn.to/3yErn9k
Not in this Video, but a good and affordable set of soft pastels for beginners: Paul Rubens 36 Soft Pastel Set: amzn.to/3IENnFB
Pocket Color Wheel & Gray Scale Finder:
amzn.to/3yI9OFc
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[@monetcafe]

Hi Artists! I think you're going to love bringing your clouds to life using this 3 Color Method for creating beautiful grays!! Enjoy and please comment to let me know if this is helpful! :). Happy Painting!

[@nh5083]

Beautiful cloud painting Susan! You're an awesome instructor, kind, patient and love that you're a sister in Christ! Thank you for your time and all you do!💗🙏

[@jillcherrick3113]

Thank you Susan for another great video. Great idea to match values by taking a picture and taking saturation down. Another great little pastel piece. I feel God has gifted me today through the link you provided of the PDF for Deborah Secor's book Landscape painting in pastels. THANK YOU!! It's such a wonderful free gift that she has given to everyone. WOW is it packed with so much information. Thank you Susan for linking this. I'm sure that if she had chosen to sell this book it would be in the very high $ range. So awesome . Thanks again for all your time in these tutorials Susan. Have a Very Blessed day!!!😊 Jill C. Huachuca Arizona❤

[@monetcafe]

Thank you so much, @jillcherrick3113! I'm so glad you liked it! Happy Painting!

[@LukenUSee]

Beautiful, and thank you for your wisdom on color mixing in making neutrals. This adds so much more character and interest to the clouds!

[@christyellis3278]

This is an amazing color theory lesson. Such a gift! I have been preparing to paint an egret and studying the background of leaves in the distance and I want to make it look alive. I can see all of the blues and pinks in the white bird body, but I could not see all of the colors in the background until this video. You are such a great teacher!

[@monetcafe]

Thank you so much, @christyellis3278! Your comment blessed me.

[@kf8045]

Thanks for sharing your beautiful painting! I live on a small boat underneath a big sky that often has dramatic clouds. I am a very beginning artist, but after your excellent video I feel inspired to paint some simple scenes with two and three colored clouds. Your explanations are easy to follow and much appreciated.

[@monetcafe]

Awesome @kf8045, I appreciate that so much!

[@barbarascott1774]

Thanks fantastic lesson looking forward to trying this out on my next cloud picture

[@sabinelower1524]

Vielen, vielen Dank für dieses tolle Video, ich bin total begeistert. Ich werde gleich morgen anfangen Wolken zu malen. Du erklärst so super, dass ich bei jedem Video unglaublich viel lerne, tausend Dank dafür, Liebe Grüße 🤗

[@crystalthursby2808]

Fantastic video! Very informative!

[@mjpete27]

Wonderful video Susan! I am also a fan of Schmincke pastel sticks! I know that the level of pigments is the reason each stick feels differently from each other! Because they have so little binder and fillers the texture of every stick is different because most pigments are so different from one another! Lovely clouds and a wonderful lesson, thank you.

[@monetcafe]

Exactly!! That’s what I’ve been learning over the years. I’d love to research what certain pigments are made from… so fascinating 👏💜

[@TheLtData]

Thanks you. Interesting technique. Thanks for mentioning the PDF! I've downloaded it.

[@jeremygolding5281]

Thank you for this informative video, it is very informative and fun to watch! I plan to re-watch it if/when I get into pastel painting, which seems very likely.

[@sweetie8724]

Makes me want to get out my pastels and get to playing… so beautiful… your foresight in looking at the color values shapes and images is fantastic. Guess I’m going to put down my acoustic guitar to share some time🙏❤️🙏

[@sfcucci]

Love this thank you for the lesson in value, learned a lot ❤️

[@MishWoon]

What a fantastic idea for complementing colour…,thank you for sharing 💋💕

[@petrajimenez7323]

Thank you for this tutorial .

[@brendawhaley7094]

i just seen your page and it was good to hear about the lord so blessed thank you

[@monetcafe]

🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻💜💜💜

[@mifasola1]

Very instructive video

[@loredanavacca8587]

Grazie mille! Molto belli! 😊👍💕

[@lisacurtis8162]

It is very helpful thank you.

[@carolebentley5697]

Wonderful instruction!

[@serapU.]

In the reference photo, the sky beneath the clouds (above the horizon) is not a light blue, but a light yellow-gray.

[@monetcafe]

I don’t always like to follow the reference photo but get interpretive with Colour and make things more exciting.

[@birgitblume4980]

Very helpful! Thank you! What pastel set do you use in this video?

[@monetcafe]

I was using a 120 1/2 set of Schminke Pastels. Unfortunately, they don’t make the set anymore but www.dakotapastels.com has some nice Schminke sets available. 😊😊😊

[@birgitblume4980]

@@monetcafe Thank you!

[@fergiemax1829]

Good information! Do u always use the rough side of this paper?

[@monetcafe]

Not always, sometimes it depends on the subject matter. If I'm going for a more impressionistic result I'll use the front (more textured side), if I need more detail I'll use the back (a bit more smooth). :)

[@traces2807]

Can you apply these principles to oil painting? Beginner here, sorry!

[@monetcafe]

Yes, even though I haven’t tried this technique with oils, I don’t see why the technique wouldn’t work. Of course it’s a wet medium so the colors may blend a bit more on the surface. I always recommend playing around with some small studies. Hope you have fun!