Head in the Clouds

 On a cold, wintry day last January I looked out the window at work just as the sun was setting and the sky was full of gold and pink and blue.  I grabbed a quick shot of it with my cell phone camera, but it isn't til now that I've had a chance to try to put it down onto canvas.

Clouds are fascinating to draw or paint and they are forgiving too.  You can rearrange them a little and still have them appear quite cloud like.  On the other hand, clouds do have form and values and those need to be taken into account when painting them just like any other object.

And, of course, a closer view above, for those who like to see how the strokes are put down.

This study is painted in oils on a 6 x 12" canvas and I'd like to translate it onto a much larger canvas.  Concentrating on the sky alone with no land allows the eye to really see the cloud formations and colour.