Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Spring Skies

The other day, I went to Powell's Books to look at some art books showing how to paint clouds. 
Surprisingly, when I arrived on the art floor, I was floored to see a wall of cloud paintings by 
Heidi Keith. She painted 182 sky paintings, one each morning at 7 a.m.in Portland, every day from the winter to the summer solstice. It's a wonderful show and if you're in town, you should go see it before more of the paintings disappear.



 I didn't buy a book that day, but I took special note of the clouds. I especially like how this building was reflecting the clouds in the windows.


I've been practicing painting watercolor clouds today, and I've found them very tricky, but fascinating. I really enjoyed looking out the window and trying to record what I saw. I made all of these using combinations of Cerulean Blue, French Ultramarine, Raw Sienna, and Alizarin Red. I tried different sketchbooks and different brushes and different techniques.







I've got a long way to go. 
This is what the Portland sky looked like through my camera.
 I can see why Heidi Keith would want to paint the sky each morning.





I also took time to paint a vase of camellias while waiting for paint to dry.









2 comments:

deb rossi said...

love the idea of painting on such a schedule....and subject. You have taken on a beautiful challenge. I like your attempts even if you think you have a long way to go....
deb

Vicky said...

Thank you, Deb. I really appreciate your encouragement.