Coloring Clouds

Clouds Are Not White Cotton Balls With Blue Outlines

Clouds look solid from the ground, but they're really enormous collections of tiny water droplets and ice crystals interacting with light.

That means their edges can be soft, sharp, glowing, disappearing, bright, dark, warm, cool, or almost invisible depending on the weather and lighting.

The easiest way to make a cloud look pasted onto the sky is to outline every bump and leave the inside white.

Instead, think of clouds as soft three-dimensional forms made from light and shadow.

Start With the Big Shape

Before worrying about little fluffy edges, look at the overall cloud.

Is it:

wide and flat?

tall and billowing?

thin and wispy?

heavy and stormy?

a collection of overlapping masses?

Establish that large shape first.

Then imagine the cloud as a collection of rounded forms overlapping one another.

Some sections project forward.

Others sit behind.

Those overlaps create the shadows that give the cloud volume.

Try It: Build a Cloud From Circles

Lightly sketch several overlapping circles and ovals into one cloud-shaped mass.

Don't outline them heavily.

Imagine light coming from the upper left.

Leave the upper-left portions of your imaginary forms mostly white.

Add pale blue-gray, lavender, or another shadow color beneath and between them.

Now soften or erase most of the internal circle boundaries.

What remains should resemble a dimensional cloud.

The circles were only scaffolding.

Cloud construction accomplished.

White Clouds Need Colored Shadows

Just as with white flowers and white objects, white clouds aren't created by simply leaving the paper blank.

Preserve white paper for the brightest illuminated areas.

Then build the shadowed portions with subtle colors such as:

pale blue,

blue-gray,

lavender,

violet,

soft gray,

cream,

peach,

or muted pink.

The exact colors depend on the sky and light.

A midday cloud might have cool blue-gray shadows.

A sunset cloud might contain lavender, peach, pink, gold, and violet.

The cloud still appears white because the lightest areas remain much brighter than the shadows.

Don't Put Shadow Around the Entire Edge

A common instinct is to trace the bottom and edges of a cloud with gray.

That creates an outline rather than volume.

Instead, place shadows inside the cloud's form.

Tuck deeper color beneath overlapping billows.

Let some shadows disappear gradually.

Make other areas more defined.

Allow portions of the outer edge to remain bright and nearly invisible against a pale sky.

That variation makes the cloud feel soft.

Look Closely: Hard Edges and Soft Edges

Not every cloud edge should receive the same treatment.

A brightly illuminated cloud against a deep blue sky may have a crisp sunlit edge.

A thin wispy section may dissolve almost completely.

A shadowed cloud may blend softly into nearby haze.

A storm cloud can have strong dramatic edges in one area and indistinct misty edges elsewhere.

Mix them.

Sharp + soft + disappearing edges create much more believable clouds than one continuous scalloped outline.

The Bottom Isn't Automatically Gray

Cloud shadows depend on the light.

Yes, many clouds have darker undersides.

But don't simply draw a straight gray strip across the bottom.

Let the shadow rise into the cloud in irregular shapes.

Some hanging sections may become darker.

Other lower areas may catch reflected light from the landscape or atmosphere.

Keep the shadow uneven.

Clouds are not floating loaves of bread with evenly toasted bottoms.

Try This: One Cloud, Three Times of Day

Use three copies of the same cloud.

For midday, try white, pale blue, blue-gray, and perhaps a little lavender.

For sunset, use cream, gold, peach, pink, lavender, and violet.

For moonlight, use pale blue, silver-gray, indigo, and violet.

Keep the basic cloud drawing identical.

The different palettes should make it feel as though hours have passed.

This is a perfect demonstration of how much light controls color.

Creating a Fluffy Cumulus Cloud

For those big storybook clouds that look almost solid enough to climb, build several rounded masses.

Keep the upper areas brightest.

Place soft shadows beneath each overlapping section.

Deepen the interior where several forms meet.

Allow the bottom to become somewhat flatter and darker.

Then soften selected transitions.

The cloud should feel as though it's growing upward into the light.

You can exaggerate this slightly in whimsical illustrations.

Edenglow is unlikely to issue a citation for excessive cloud fluffiness.

Wispy Clouds Need Restraint

Thin cirrus clouds behave very differently.

Don't build them from heavy rounded forms.

Use long, feather-light strokes.

Let the sky show through.

Follow sweeping directional curves.

Keep the contrast low.

Some sections can simply fade away.

The moment you start heavily outlining wispy clouds, they stop being wispy.

Think feather, veil, breath, brushstroke.

Storm Clouds Don't Require Black

A dramatic storm cloud can contain an enormous range of color:

blue-gray,

slate,

indigo,

violet,

deep blue,

muted green,

brown-gray,

charcoal,

and sometimes surprising warm colors.

Build these in layers.

Keep some lighter areas within the cloud so the darker sections have contrast.

If you fill the entire storm cloud with black, you lose all the billowing structure.

A threatening cloud is often more effective when we can still see its enormous forms turning through the darkness.

Mini Challenge: Make a Storm Without Black

Draw one large cloud.

Set the black pencil aside.

Use only:

deep blue,

violet,

gray,

indigo,

and one unexpected muted color such as green or brown.

Create a bright area where light still reaches the cloud.

Build progressively deeper shadows beneath and behind the forms.

Leave a few pale edges.

If the cloud looks ominous without black, you've successfully created darkness through color relationships rather than brute force.

Clouds Near the Horizon Are Different

Distant clouds generally appear:

smaller,

flatter,

less detailed,

lower in contrast,

and often lighter or hazier.

Foreground or overhead clouds can contain stronger contrast and more visible structure.

This gives you an easy way to create atmospheric depth.

Make nearby clouds larger and more dimensional.

Let distant clouds soften toward the horizon.

Suddenly the sky has distance rather than looking like blue wallpaper decorated with cloud stickers.

Sunset Clouds Catch Light From Below

During the day, we're accustomed to thinking about light coming from above.

At sunset, low sunlight can illuminate the undersides and edges of clouds.

That's why sunset clouds can glow with brilliant:

gold,

orange,

peach,

pink,

red,

and magenta

while their upper or interior sections become violet, blue, or gray.

Try placing warm light directly beside cool shadow.

That contrast can make the illuminated edges appear extraordinarily bright.

The Silver-Lining Trick

To create a cloud with a bright rim, preserve a narrow band of white or pale cream along the edge nearest the light source.

Then place a noticeably darker cloud value immediately inside it.

That contrast makes the rim appear luminous.

You don't need to outline the entire cloud.

Use the effect only where the light would actually strike.

A few bright edges are far more convincing than turning the whole cloud into a neon marshmallow.

Clouds Cast Shadows Too

Large clouds can cast shadows onto:

mountains,

fields,

water,

buildings,

and other clouds.

If you're coloring a landscape, introducing a broad cool shadow beneath a passing cloud can create wonderful atmosphere.

It also helps connect the sky to the land.

The cloud isn't simply floating above the scene anymore.

It's affecting the world beneath it.

Try This: Cloud Over Water

Color a cloud above a lake.

Then place a softened, broken version of its colors in the water below.

Keep the reflection flatter and more horizontal than the cloud itself.

Interrupt it with ripples.

Now you've combined two Studio lessons:

Clouds + Water

As these techniques accumulate, you'll find that they begin working together rather than existing as isolated tricks.

That's when coloring becomes especially interesting.

Don't Overwork the White

Because colored pencil is usually translucent, preserving the paper is often your best way to create luminous clouds.

If you completely cover a bright cloud and later try to restore brilliant white with a white pencil, you'll probably get a softer light rather than the original paper white.

So plan ahead.

Leave breathing room.

A cloud doesn't need pigment everywhere.

Sometimes the untouched paper is doing exactly the job you need.

Edenglow Studio Tip

Color the shadows inside the cloud more than the outline around it.

Preserve the brightest areas. Build overlapping forms with soft shadow. Vary hard and soft edges. Let some sections disappear into the sky.

The goal isn't to draw a white object floating in blue.

It's to create something enormous, luminous, weightless, and constantly changing—using nothing but paper and a handful of pencils.