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.