Lin Kerr - Artist

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Summer Cloudscapes

August 2, 2016 by Lin Kerr 2 Comments

I have now been painting in oils for six months (since I was a student 40 years ago, painting hard-edge abstracts) and this is my first summer as an oil painter! So far, I’ve been doing small still-life daily paintings, and huge vases, with a tulip interlude. But summer beckons with the big skies of Oxfordshire and I just have to paint these vistas of clouds.

Cumulus clouds near Upton
Cumulus clouds near Upton

Where do I begin? I’ve never tried to paint clouds before (other than a brief watercolour flirtation last summer). So here is my Plan:

  • Study actual clouds and learn about them
  • Photograph clouds
  • Do plein-air watercolour studies
  • Use a how-to book & try these out from step-by-step watercolour projects or my photosWatercolour studies
  • I have to force myself to copy another artists’ work and feel a bit impatient but it is such valuable way to learn – it is helping me figure out the colours and the shapes and what clouds do. Of course, I will be working from my own photos and using oils, so this is only a process. Luckily it is summer holidays and its quite fun to become absorbed in studying clouds.
  • Look at how-to videos by artists, whose clouds I like and take copious notes – I just google ‘You-tube landscapes oils’ then choose the ones I like.
  • Plan compositions by camera and sketching.
  • Learn the colour theory and make-up of different types of cloud
  • Pixellate my digital images to find the colours. You can see the ceruleans and ultramarine blues and all the shades of white!

    Pixellated cloud photos are good for colour research
    Pixellated cloud photos are good for colour research
  • Look at the work of other artists to see their approach.

I have set August aside for clouds and I’ll see where to go from here. I’m hoping to do a watercolour nearly every day and can’t wait to get my photos back from the lab, so that I can start to apply what I am learning. When we go to France I hope I’ll do some plein-air studies!

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Comments

  1. Alice says

    August 2, 2016 at 8:35 pm

    Oh wow, clouds are such a fabulous choice of subject – I can’t wait to see what you produce!

    Reply
    • Lin Kerr says

      August 3, 2016 at 11:34 pm

      Hi Alice – Thanks. I’m a teeny bit nervous, but have ordered two large canvasses…

      Reply

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