Dreamscape – A path revealed

Ben and I have been decorating the house for the last year – multiple paint buckets and a new bathroom later – I have finally been able to get back into the spare room! There’s always that one room that ends up being a junk room – out of sight, out of mind. Unfortunately, that meant my art had taken a backseat.

However, I have managed to clear my way to the easel and here is my latest painting. I really wanted a challenge for this project and not having yet attempted painting clouds or reflections before, I took the opportunity to combine the two.

Development stages

The layering of colour is the main element to painting clouds. You create the basic shape with the darkest colour and then gradually introduce highlights from the direction of your light source. You can’t really go wrong, clouds come in all shapes and sizes so any unintentional brushstrokes can just become part of a new cloud.

Reflections… are tough! Trying to copy the same things you’ve already painted, but upside down and with a slight blur to them can be tricky. I found putting the canvas on its side really helped to mirror the existing shapes. The blur effect was achieved by using a dry brush.