Cloud tutorial

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Cloud tutorial

Adding clouds to your painting is one of the easiest ways to create an interesting atmosphere and bring your image to life! However, painting believable clouds can be tricky due to the way light interacts with them.

In this digital painting tutorial, I have broken down the process into a simple and easy to follow step by step process that will help you understand how to paint clouds believably. Applying this technique in combination with some cloud studies will quickly improve your painting skills!

Step 1

Sketch out overall form of the cloud. Imagine them as a series of bubbles on top of each other. More random they are, more natural the cloud will turn out.

Step 2

Fill in the sketch with a solid color. The sketch is there for a general outline. The fill doesn’t have to stay exactly inside the circles.

Step 3

Add general lighting direction using the fill as a masking layer. Imagine the whole cloud as a sphere when lighting. Where is the main light? shadow? and bounce light.

Step 4

Sample the light tone using the eye dropper to start detaililng the lighted side of the clouds. Use the early sketch as a guide to wrap the lit cloud accordingly.

Step 5

Introduce a lighter value as a highlight. *don’t worry about colors yet. make sure the values are working properly before jumping into colors.*

Step 6

Add some more clouds to add a sense of depth and scale. These extra clouds will make the scene look more natural. *Give less details and attention to the other clouds since the focus is the main cloud*

Step 7

Introduce colors using color layer property. giving a warm color on the light VS cool color on the shadow will give a nice sense of realism.

Step 8

Use smudge tool to mix the color, show some movements, and give some flavor to your clouds.

Step 9
Final touchup

Come to the Digital Drawing side and create the Mandalorian with mentor Bryant Koshu!

During the workshop, you’ll learn how to search for references, use Photoshop and Procreate tools, make quick sketches, work with volume, light, shadow, and much more.

Try it for free

ArtCraft has been bringing creative people's dreams to life since 2016. We teach digital art, 2D and 3D graphics, and animation to beginners from square one. Advanced students can upgrade their skills to further their future careers in the video game industry.

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