<commit_before>---
layout: post
title: "Mastering Paper by 53: Drawing the Sky and Clouds"
description: "Learn techniques to blue skies, clouds, and pretty sunsets using the iPad app Paper by 53."
image: 
  feature: paper-53-expanded-guide-feature.jpg
  thumb: paper-53-expanded-guide-thumb.jpg
category: articles
tags: [Paper by 53, tutorial, drawing, painting, iPad, sky, clouds]
series: mastering-paper
comments: true
feature: true
---

Sunsets and cloud filled blue skies are two of the easiest subjects to paint realistically when using the iPad app, Paper by FiftyThree. Honestly, with just a few washes of watercolor and strokes of pencil, you'll have an instant masterpiece. Here... let me show you how.

## Blue Skies Fade

Let's start with the easier of the two, blue skies and clouds. The most important step is choosing a blue to paint your sky with. It's really up to you on how intense of a color you want, I tend to mix in a swirl of green and keep it slightly over saturated. If you're going for a doom and gloom overcast sky, back off the blue and mix in gray instead.

![screenshot of blue sky vs overcast color](http://placehold.it/600x350.jpg)

With the color mixed, select the pencil and draw a light horizon line. This step isn't always necessary, so if you're a pro and don't need a guide feel free to move on.

![screenshot of pencil horizon line](http://placehold.it/600x350.jpg)

Now you can finally start to paint the sky. What you're trying to accomplish with this step is a smooth coat that gradually fades to white as you approach the horizon line. The easiest way to do this is with the watercolor brush, starting from the top of the composition, and working down in a slight zig zag pattern.

![screenshot of painting direction, show arrows top to down, left to right](http://placehold.it/600x350.jpg)

When painting, do not lift the stylus or your finger from the screen until you finish this first coat. The trick is to move very slow near the top, and progressively speed up the zig zag pattern as you approach the horizon line.

![screenshot of faded sky coat 1](http://placehold.it/600x350.jpg)

Depending on how gradual of a fade you want in the sky, multiple coats may be required. Follow the same pattern from before to keep everything looking smooth.

![screenshot of faded sky multiple coats](http://placehold.it/600x350.jpg)

Now comes my favorite part, painting clouds. Sticking with the watercolor brush, we're going to fluff them in using short circular strokes. If you have a Pogo Connect Smart Pen, you can control the amount of lightening easier. But if you don't, just focus on making quick strokes, the faster the better. White lightens really fast and you don't want to remove too much blue at once, so be careful.

![screenshot of fluffed clouds](http://placehold.it/600x350.jpg)

With the clouds shaped and looking like cotton balls, it's time to add a few wispy clouds and sharpen things up. Again, a Pogo Connect comes in handy, allowing you to work lightly and gradually. But if you're finger painting or using a normal stylus, quick strokes can achieve the same result.

You don't have to overdo it with this step. A few well placed wisps on the top edge of larger cloud formations is all that's needed. And to create those long thin streaky looking clouds, use the following pattern.

![screenshot of streaky cloud pattern](http://placehold.it/600x350.jpg)

## Fire Skies and Sunsets

Painting sunsets builds on the previous techniques with the addition of the colors yellow, red, and orange, and possibly black.

I think a fiery red sky might be fun to paint, so that's what I'm going to demonstrate in the following screenshots. Remember, color is extremely subjective, I'm merely showing a few examples to get you started. Feel free to experiment and vary them up --- there is no right or wrong here.

We'll start by mixing an orange/red and then draw a light line at the horizon to act as a guide. Select the watercolor brush and apply paint from the horizon line up --- in the opposite direction from before. Remember the zig zag pattern we used earlier to paint a blue sky? Good. Because it's going to come in handy here. Like before paint slowly from left to right, slightly overlapping the row before without lifting your pen or finger. As you approach the top of the sky move faster to fade the color into the background.

![screenshot of red/orange mixed color](http://placehold.it/300x150.jpg) ![screenshot of 1st red coat](http://placehold.it/300x150.jpg)

A few coats may be necessary like before. What you're trying to achieve is a darker red at the horizon, that gradually fades into the background about halfway to the top of the sky. I fade the red around halfway to leave room to fade a dark blue/violet down from the top in this next step.

After you're satisfied with the red coat, mix a dull and dark blue gray to paint the other half of the sunset. Using the same zig zag painting pattern, starting in the upper left corner and working your way down. As you approach the faded red, paint faster to fade into the background just before it, leaving some about an inch of background.

![screenshot background color between blue and red](http://placehold.it/600x350.jpg)

To add clouds to our sunset let's start by mixing a red into white. You're trying for a pink color that has just enough white in it to lighten while you paint. Once you successfully mixed a pink fluff in a few clouds using short circular strokes (same technique from before).

![screenshot of pink fluffed clouds](http://placehold.it/600x350.jpg)

Giving these clouds depth and dimension can be achieved by adding a little more red to the mix. You're looking to add just enough to make the color translucent instead of opaque. A few strokes is all that's needed to add subtle red shadows to the clouds.

![screenshot add red shadows to clouds](http://placehold.it/600x350.jpg)

You can also use the pencil filled with this pinkish red to refine the clouds edges or draw in long wispy clouds.

![screenshot pink wispy clouds](http://placehold.it/600x350.jpg)

One of the benefits of painting a sunset in your background, is how it reacts with objects that placed in silhouette. You can draw or paint almost anything and fill it with black for a great look. A half circle at the horizon to represent the sun, or the outline of a figure in the foreground are both excellent choices.

![screenshot of sun in silo](http://placehold.it/300x150.jpg) ![screenshot of figure in silo](http://placehold.it/300x150.jpg)

Next up, drawing and painting water.<commit_msg>Edit draft<commit_after>---
layout: post
title: "Mastering Paper by 53: Drawing Skies and Clouds"
description: "Learn techniques to blue skies, clouds, and pretty sunsets using the iPad app Paper by 53."
image: 
  feature: paper-53-expanded-guide-feature.jpg
  thumb: paper-53-expanded-guide-thumb.jpg
category: articles
tags: [Paper by 53, tutorial, drawing, painting, iPad, sky, clouds]
series: mastering-paper
comments: true
feature: true
---

Paper by 53 makes painting realistic skies and clouds a breeze. If you had fun drawing trees, just wait until you fluff out happy clouds that would make <NAME> proud. Honestly, with just a few washes of watercolor and strokes of pencil, you'll have an instant masterpiece. Here...let me show you how.

## Blue Skies Fade

Let's start with the easier of the two, a nice bright blue sky. One of the more important steps is choosing a blue to paint with. The hue...the saturation...and the brightness all play a role in the overall emotion of the piece. I tend to mix in a swirl of green and keep it slightly over saturated to contrast against skin tones as seen in my many [PaperFaces portraits]({{ site.url }}/paperfaces/). If you're going for doom and gloom, back off the blue and mix in gray instead to set the foundation for an overcast sky.

![screenshot of blue sky vs overcast color](http://placehold.it/600x350.jpg)

With the base sky color choosen and mixed, select the pencil and draw a light horizon line. This step isn't always necessary, so if you're a pro and don't need the help of a guide feel free to move on.

![screenshot of pencil horizon line](http://placehold.it/600x350.jpg)

Prep work complete, now you can start the actual painting of the sky. What you're trying to accomplish with this step is a smooth coat that gradually fades to white as you approach the horizon line. The easiest way to do this is with the watercolor brush, starting from the top of the composition, working down in a slight zig zag pattern.

![screenshot of painting direction, show arrows top to down, left to right](http://placehold.it/600x350.jpg)

When painting, do not lift the stylus or your finger from the screen until you finish this first coat. The trick is to move very slow near the top, and progressively speed up the zig zag pattern as you approach the horizon line.

![screenshot of faded sky coat 1](http://placehold.it/600x350.jpg)

Depending on how gradual of a fade you want in the sky, multiple coats may be required. Follow the same pattern from before to keep everything looking smooth.

![screenshot of faded sky multiple coats](http://placehold.it/600x350.jpg)

Now comes my favorite part, painting happy clouds ala *<NAME>* (RIP you silly son of a gun). Sticking with the watercolor brush, we're going to fluff a few clouds in using short circular strokes. If you have a [Pogo Connect Smart Pen]({{ site.url }}/pogo-connect-smart-pen.html), you can control the amount of background lightening easier. But if you don't, just focus on making quick strokes --- the faster the better. 

White lightens quickly and you don't want to remove too much blue at once, so be careful with this step. If you remove too much blue, just rewind and try again.

![screenshot of fluffed clouds](http://placehold.it/600x350.jpg)

With the clouds shaped and looking like clumps of cotton, it's time to add a few wispy cirrus clouds and everything up. Again, a Pogo Connect Smart Pen comes in handy, allowing you to work lightly and gradually. Finger painters and normal stylus creators fear not, quick strokes can achieve the same results.

No need to overdo it with this final step. A few well placed wisps on the edges of larger clouds is all that's needed. For the longer streaky clouds, you're looking for something like this:

![screenshot of streaky cloud pattern](http://placehold.it/600x350.jpg)

## Fire Skies and Sunsets

To paint a sunset, I use the same exact techniques and process. The only difference is the addition of three to four colors to create all the sunset fades and multi-colored clouds.

Fiery red skies and silhouetted foreground subjects look super dramatic, so that's what I'm going to demonstrate in the following steps. Remember, color is extremely subjective, I'm merely showing a few examples to get you started. Feel free to experiment and vary them up --- there is no right or wrong here.

We'll start by mixing orange into red and then draw a light line at the sky's horizon to act as our guide. Select the watercolor brush and apply paint from the horizon line up --- in the opposite direction from before. Remember the zig zag pattern we used earlier to paint a blue sky? Good. Because it's going to come in handy here.

![screenshot of red/orange zig zag pattern](http://placehold.it/600x150.jpg)

Just like the blue sky from before, paint slowly from left to right, slightly overlapping the row before without lifting your pen or finger. As you approach the top of the sky move faster to fade the color into the background.

![screenshot of red/orange mixed color](http://placehold.it/300x150.jpg) ![screenshot of 1st red coat](http://placehold.it/300x150.jpg)

A few coats to build up the sky into a smooth gradation of color may be necessary. What you're looking for is a darker red at the horizon, that gradually fades into the background about halfway up from the top. I fade the red around halfway to leave room to fade a dark blue-violet down from the top in this next step.

After you're satisfied with the red coat, mix a dull and dark blue gray to paint the other half of the sunset. Use the same zig zag painting pattern, only this time start in the upper left corner and work your way down. As you approach the faded red, paint faster to fade into the background just before it, leaving about an inch of background between.

![screenshot background color between blue and red](http://placehold.it/600x350.jpg)

To add clouds to our sunset let's start by mixing a red into white. You're trying for a pink color that has just enough white in it to lighten while you paint. Once you successfully mixed a pink, fluff in a few clouds using short circular strokes (same technique from before).

![screenshot of pink fluffed clouds](http://placehold.it/600x350.jpg)

Giving these clouds depth and dimension can be achieved by adding a little more red to the mix. You're looking to add just enough to make the color translucent instead of opaque. A few strokes is all that's needed to some shadows to the clouds. 

![screenshot add red shadows to clouds](http://placehold.it/600x350.jpg)

**Protip:** If you don't add enough red, this color will lighten the cloud instead of darkening it.
{: .notice}

A pencil filled with this pinkish red is perfect for refining clouds edges or drawing in long wispy clouds.

![screenshot pink wispy clouds](http://placehold.it/600x350.jpg)

An added benefit of painting a sunset, is how it reacts with objects that are placed in silhouette. You can draw or paint almost anything and fill it with black to add drama to your creation. A half circle at the horizon to represent the sun, or the outline of a figure in the foreground are both appropriate choices.

![screenshot of sun in silo](http://placehold.it/300x150.jpg) ![screenshot of figure in silo](http://placehold.it/300x150.jpg)

Next up --- the perfect landscape compliment to happy trees and clouds, bodies of water.
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