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How to Paint Gorgeous Clouds with Watercolor Paints – 5th and 6th Grade

Clouds.  Aren’t they amazing?

Cloud photography by Carolyn Cochrane

Two years ago I took a very helpful watercolor painting class.  One of our assignments was to paint clouds.

A watercolor painting of a landscape with a cloudy blue sky and green grassy hills.

Connecting Art with Science

I love to make connections with other subjects.  This one is perfect for my 5th/6th grade because in Science class they study cloud identification.  They come into my class with a broad understanding of clouds which makes my lesson richer.

Clouds and Art Resource

The Clouds in Art Gallery is amazing.  This gallery features famous paintings (for example, by Van Gogh, Constable, Turner, Renoir) with the clouds identified.  To start this lesson, I downloaded the powerpoint from the website to show my students.

The One Tool I Can’t Live Without for Watercolor Painting

Hands down, my favorite tool for watercolor painting is the fan brush.   Buy fan brushes in a variety of sizes.  If your budget is small, start by buying a small assortment every year.  They are indispensable for creating texture!

Set of 3 Set of 3This set includes sizes 2, 4, and 6.

Tips for Using the Fan Brushes

1.  Find reference photos of clouds to use while painting.
2.  Use the paper towel to dab your brush so it is not dripping wet.  A dry brush will create a nice texture.
3.  Use a light feathery technique to make the texture in the clouds or grass.  Look at this video to see what I mean.  For the clouds, hold the brush flat and dab it up and down.
4.  When painting the sky, remember to leave the cloud areas white, unpainted.  Paint the sky around the clouds.  While the blue paint is still wet, add other colors (different shades of blues, purples, etc) on top and it will blend the colors together.  Creating variations in the shades makes a more realistic effect.

5.   Go back in to add depth to your clouds with light touches of grays, pinks, purples.. the sky’s the limit!

 

A person painting with blue watercolor on paper; hand holding a brush, paint strokes are visible. It looks like they're working on painting clouds.

Additional Tips for Painting

  • If you can afford it, don’t skimp on the quality of the watercolors for kids.  It does make a big difference, in my opinion.  Every two kids can share the paints.  So if your highest count of kids in a class is 26, buy 13 sets if you can.   Simply instruct them to place the watercolors in between them.  I also find that this helps them to monitor the muddying of the colors.. no one wants all their paints to turn black from careless mixing.   
  • As for paper, I have experimented with a lot of paper and I am still on the never-ending quest to find the perfect, non-wrinkly, affordable watercolor paper for kids.  PLEASE let me know if you have any recommendations.  What I have used recently for painting with watercolors and tempera is White Tag Board from Nasco.  I find that it takes paint well and looks pretty nice.  I have not been afraid to get out the iron and carefully iron paintings that have buckled.  Another option is to take a stack of heavy books and place them on top of the dried paintings.  What do you do?

Watercolor painting of a landscape with mountains, trees, a lake, and grass under a sky painted with clouds.Watercolor painting of a landscape with blue sky, painting clouds, green hills, and pink flowers in the foreground.A watercolor painting depicting a desert scene with mountains, a dark sky, clouds, and a small palm tree.A watercolor painting of a landscape with a blue sky, paint clouds, green field, and light brown ground.Watercolor painting of a green field under a blue sky with gorgeous clouds.Abstract watercolor painting with swirling blue and purple hues above a textured yellow and brown lower section.


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About Marcia Beckett

Marcia is an elementary art teacher and loves painting, drawing, sculpture, art journaling and clay. Her blog, Art is Basic, features many exciting art projects for kids.

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  • Banner with colorful artwork promoting an art shop featuring kindness coloring pages, artist activities, and resources for teachers.