BLUE SKY AND CLOUDS

Colorado Clouds

Every day since we moved to San Francisco, I've gotten up, walked to the same window and taken a picture of the view across the way. Each month I assemble the month's photos into a mosaic, all of which remind me of the changes in the weather that occur over time. 

This year we have had unusually hot days in March and little rain since last fall. We had a good rainstorm a couple of weeks ago with one bolt of lightning and the accompanying thunder. We don't have either very often in our more usually wet winters. The thunder reminded me of my family's trips to Minnesota in the summer when clouds would gather over the prairie, so the day became as dark as night, sheets of rain pounded the ground and lightning edged the horizon. When storms gathered or trailed off, large thunderclouds rolled across the sky. Minnesotans know weather.

Coastal Californias don't see that kind of weather often. Summers in San Francisco tends to be foggy, which flows over the city until the skyscrapers are hidden away. Fireworks become mere flashes of light in the gloom. When the fog breaks, the edges are soft and wispy, unlike the hard edges of thunderclouds. When a storm is over, the massive clouds drift towards the horizon. Yesterday driving home from across the Bay, I found myself in a gully-washer with the spray from cars and the fierce rain making it hard for me to see the road and lane markings. This week we have been glad of rain.

In drought conditions here, the sky becomes a constant bright blue with no clouds in sight for weeks or months, to the point I yearn for weather other than sunny days. When I see clouds more weighty than the usual wisps that drift by, I look at the clouds with awe and watch how many variations of blue and grey and how they change shape so quickly as the winds blow them through the sky. I try to remember some of the names of clouds that I learned about in science classes: Nimbus, Cumulus, Cirrus, Stratus, Latin names from another era that help define their shape and place in the sky. High up are the Cirrostratus and Altostratus, the thin, brush stroke ones. At mid-level are Nimbostratus, ones full of rain, and closer to the ground, Stratus and Cumulus, all more substantial. And then there is Cumulonimbus, which reaches all levels and is the type of cloud I saw on the prairie before a thunderstorm.

Clouds in San Francisco

Looking at the sky every day reminds me how vast the universe is, how blue the sky, and how something as ethereal and powerful the clouds and wind can be. We can fly through clouds as if they are nothing, yet they can create major destruction.

Clouds make great painting exercises for watercolor. As a watercolor student, I have heard the mantra of painting hard and soft edges. That technique helps to give clouds volume, otherwise, they can appear flat on the page. Mixing cerulean or cobalt blue with a touch of magenta gives the sky depth. Adding a dash of yellow to the blue creates a grey that can darken and lighten to show how full the clouds are with rain. Once the paint is one the paper and still damp, I use a Viva paper towel to dab away some of the paint to create soft, white clouds. Another technique I've learned is to hold the brush so it is facing down towards the bottom of the paper. As I push the brush across the page, I don't get the little dabs that can happen when I hold the brush with the tip of the brush upwards.

Certain objects such as rocks, a tree in full leaf, water, bushes, large pieces of open area, adding the dark values, and the sky  can be difficult objects to paint. Did you notice how long that list is? I find that each time I start a new painting that it feels like a new beginning. I have to remind myself to slow down and think about techniques that work for me. That is a good time for me to look at the sky.

Cloud Practice

Old Barn