In the process of sketching a composition that includes clouds, you need to decide how much of them will occupy in the final version. Do you just want to dilute the monochromatic sky with them, or did you decide to highlight the clouds and draw them in detail? Once a decision has been made, follow this step-by-step guide.

We will focus on cumulus clouds, which are most often encountered in the works. Cumulus clouds come in a wide variety of shapes, are dense, and can be snow-white or menacingly dark. Below are three examples of images of cumulus clouds.

1. Wide and blurry cloud

A cumulus cloud is usually voluminous; through it, blue pieces of the sky are visible. It is dense, not as thin as feather, and of various sizes, so it is interesting to draw it. To create it, you need to depict several torn patches of the sky.

Step 1

For simplicity, I used the usual White list watercolor paper and one color - blue. Start with sketches of the "holes" ragged along the edges - the sky peering through the clouds. Do not press on the pencil so that the lines can be hidden in the process of drawing or erased with an eraser.

Wet the paper, including the places you just painted. Apply light strokes of blue paint to the "holes".

Leave a sheet of paper (or at least a part with the sky) to dry for half an hour.

Step 2

Believe it or not, but you are already one step away from the final result! Add more blue paint to the areas drawn in step 1. While the paper was drying, the blue color probably blocked the outline made in pencil. This is good! So the clouds will look natural.

Another uneven layer of blue color on wet paper in some places it will spread, in some places it will remain. This is the effect we need.

Brighten up the color here and there and enjoy the end result.

2. Volumetric cloud

Such cumulus clouds are most often drawn. It is in them, smoothly sliding across the sky, that we try to make out familiar outlines. Good news in that these clouds are drawn very simply.

Step 1

Draw a curved round or oval shape. Since working on children's books, I've been making cloud borders sharp, as in the example below. Do not draw bold lines, just make a sketch that can be easily erased if something happens.

Draw several hill-like lines inside the cloud.

Step 2

Wet the area outside the cloud, leaving the cloud completely dry. Paint over the sky.

Step 3

Start working on the cloud when the sky is completely dry. For a depth effect, emphasize the bulging parts of the cloud with shades of gray (#1 in the image below).

Wet the area bordering the "hills" of the cloud and deepen the gray. Blend the edges with a brush (#2 in the picture below).

3. Spectacular cloud

These clouds appear when the weather changes. When creating a cumulus cloud, it is important to be mindful of dense white areas, especially in fluffy and hilly clouds.

Step 1

Designate the contour of the cloud as in the previous example. This time place the bumps one on top of the other and add "hills" both inside the cloud and along its edges.

Step 2

Wet the whole sky. You can moisten the cloud itself a little, this will make the work more interesting and give the cloud a showiness (#1 in the picture below).

In the process of creating volume, I saturated the color on the tops of the hills. This is another way to achieve the 3D effect.

2 ways to depict a cirrus cloud

Cirrus clouds represent good weather, they are light and high in the sky. Cirrus clouds are speckled and hazy white, like marble and sea ​​wave. They can be drawn in two ways.

Blue on white

Wet the sky area and apply a few swirls of blue. Leave the paper to dry, highlight the curls again. Repeat the process a third time. So the color will get the effect of volume, and the edges will come out soft. Areas with sharp edges will fit perfectly into the final picture, so don't worry if the paper dries unevenly.

White on blue

Using this method, you apply materials to the finished blue sky.

In the picture below, I made the sky. I painted it, left it to dry, mixed white gouache with a little water and made a couple of light strokes with it. Wetted the brush again and softened too sharp edges - and the drawing is ready! You can even use white pastel.

Use as many materials as possible

My instructions for creating clouds will work with other materials as well. I give an example of a volumetric cumulus cloud made with coal.

I painted the sky and cloud shadows with horizontal strokes, varying the pressure to create light and shadow.
Even the most ordinary clouds can become the heroes of an illustration that will delight you.

First of all, you need to choose realistic colors for the sky. So the super-bright acid colors immediately step aside.

Second, think about the weather.

If the sky is clear and fades from deep blue to light blue on the horizon, then there is not enough vapor in the air and it will be impossible to find any fluffy air clouds. Only clear, well-defined clouds are possible here.

Conversely, if the sky is almost uniform in color (with a slight smooth transition between two colors - dark and light), there is a high probability of observing fluffy clouds scattered across the sky. And that's exactly what we want!

Click on the image to view the image in full size and 100% quality.

So we have clear skies. But what does it take to get those damn clouds?

I'm sure you could paint them with a regular round brush, but I'll tell you about my method. And, of course, I have two special brushes:

Small cloud islands

GIMP users download

So, let's begin! For this cloud, I take a light yellow color: why not white? Because it looks better with blue, and because the sunlight falls on it.

Then we begin to form a cloud: in shape it resembles Dr.Slump's poop.

Then I reduce the size of the brush and go over the area with more light again. So much better, although still far from ideal.

We are working on the remaining areas of the cloud, adding density and volume to it: let it take on its shape (whatever it is)!
As you can see, my cloud is made up of three components, and all of them are already shaded.
Imagine that this is a mountain of balls, and illuminate those areas where, in theory, the light should fall.

Decrease the brush again and in the area of ​​​​shadows draw such small clouds that seem to break away from the total mass.
In fact, clouds have a very unstable shape, and it is not surprising if a small island flies somewhere near a large cloud.

Change the brush and add some "smoke" near the illuminated clouds.

At the end, blur in some places a light smoky layer of clouds. They look so unnatural!
I use the same brush for this as I used to paint the base of the cloud.

We all looked at the sky and at the most bizarre clouds floating through it. Sometimes in these clouds you can guess the outlines of animals or various objects, and sometimes we just admire the most beautiful sunsets or sunrises, this riot of colors and light created by nature.

Let's see today how to draw the sky in stages.

1. We draw the horizon line and what is under it. Let's have it be a water surface - the ripples on it are depicted by small curved lines.

1. Above the water surface, we will draw the sky - with clouds and a bright sun. We draw ragged outlines of large clouds. Notice that the closer the clouds are to the horizon, the further they are visually from us, which means they look smaller and flatter.

1. Let's show the weightlessness of clouds floating across the sky - let's draw on them semicircular air puffs of air.

1. What is the sky without the sun? His turn has come, we draw the sun with bright rays.

1. The final steps are to darken the water surface so that the sky does not merge with it. With checkmarks, draw seagulls in the sky.

The pencil drawing of the sky is ready.

This is an average lesson. It can be difficult for adults to repeat this lesson, so I don’t recommend drawing the sky for this lesson for young children, but if you have a great desire, then you can try. I also want to note the lesson "" - be sure to try to repeat it if you have time and desire to draw today.

What you need

In order to draw the sky, we may need:

• You need Photoshop software.
• A little patience.
• Good mood.

Step by step lesson

Natural phenomena are difficult to draw. That is, it is not difficult to draw them, but to achieve realism is much more difficult. I always recommend looking at the original in order to repeat exactly what you are going to draw. In the Yandex image search, it is enough to search for “the sky in the photo” to get a large amount of the necessary material.

By the way, in addition to this lesson, I advise you to turn your attention to the lesson "". It will help improve your mastery or just give you a little pleasure.

Tip: do it different actions on different layers. The more layers you make, the easier it will be for you to manage the drawing. So the sketch can be done on the bottom layer, and the white version on the top, and when the sketch is not needed, you can simply turn off the visibility of this layer.

When completing the lesson, please note that due to differences in program versions, some menu items and tools may be called differently or not at all. This might make the tutorial a little difficult to follow, but I think you can do it.

First, I filled the canvas with a gradient fill. I took the dark blue and light blue colors shown in the picture below. Since we are trying to draw the sky, which we look at from the bottom up, the lower part of the canvas will be farther from us, which means lighter and paler. Keep this in mind while drawing and try to maintain this ratio throughout the work.

Now that we have done the most important thing, let's try to make a sketch. You can, of course, create on the fly, but I prefer to arrange the composition somehow before starting to draw. I wanted to display light feathers below, place on the right, and under it a small cloud. Well, the hero of the picture will be a trace from a flying one. Once you've sketched, it's best to keep it on the topmost layer and turn it back on periodically to compare with what you're getting. True, not infrequently, the composition may change in the course of drawing. But it's not scary. The main thing is that this does not happen by accident and then you do not have to fix everything.

My main brush for painting clouds is a soft round brush (Soft Round Brush). I usually draw on a large canvas (this drawing was made in the size of 2400*3200 pixels). But the whole time I was painting, it was reduced to 25%.

I find it comfortable to paint with a very large range of brush radii. Yes, and for the aircraft and small parts, you will need an increase, otherwise accuracy may not work.

So, with a soft round brush with a very large diameter, I highlight the surface where the sun and cloud will be. What does it mean to illuminate? I just paint on top of the places I need with low opacity and pressure (approximately 20-30%) - where the sun, cloud, feather clouds will be. That is, randomly, but deliberately, I fill the canvas with a lighter color. In order for the work not to be completely monotonous, I add the same blue color to the center, but slightly different from the existing ones. You can choose any color you like. Just remember that it should also be bluish-yellow.

Tip: Don't skip this step. Due to laziness and the desire to quickly start drawing clouds, many people skip this seemingly insignificant step. But it is he who forms the beginning of the volume of the sky. If this is not done, then your sky will look flat, and the clouds will look sharp and cardboard.

With the same brush, but with a small diameter, I outline the first stripes of clouds in the distance. I paint with a little opacity (20-30%) sometimes with straight lines, sometimes with hatching or even spirals. Try different options and keep the ones that seem more suitable to you. In fact, there is nothing complicated here. The main thing to remember is that you need to draw with different diameters and, as it were, layer by layer, gently pass over the top.

Tip: Try not to immediately boost the clouds to white color. Do it gradually. Remember that the lines should not be solid and continuous, and most importantly, they should not be dense and thick. That is why we paint with a soft brush and low opacity. Only by the end you need to increase the opacity and carefully detail with thin stripes or spirals.

I continue to add stripes of clouds at the bottom of the drawing and sketched out the base for the clouds, which I plan to place to the right of the airplane. Please note that I did all this with a low opacity and even for light detailing I used a range of approximately 40-50%.

Now, I took a brush from the set for painting clouds and with a very low opacity (20-30%) and went over the upper right part of the picture, gradually blending the colors, taking with the eyedropper those that turned out in the picture. Thus, we get a smooth transition. There is not much to explain here. This step is identical immediately to the first step after filling the gradient. The only difference is the brush.

I didn't like how I positioned the cloud on the left, so I modified it slightly with the help of the Liquify filter and pulled it to the left. In general, this tool is quite useful for fixing what you don't like. The main thing here is not to overdo it.

Tip: Save often. Especially if you are just a beginner artist, then save more files so that you can roll back. If possible, draw on small number layers, merging them together along the way. A large number of layers is not a crime, but they eat a lot of memory from your computer. Well, a small number of layers gradually kills the fear of corrections.

Now that we've tweaked the image a bit, I'm back to the soft round brush. I increase the opacity to 50-70% and paint with a very small diameter. What am I doing? That's right - I detail the clouds a little. The main thing to remember here is that the strokes should be short, sometimes even just dotted squiggles, spirals, strokes. Do not draw long, unbroken lines, straight or curved. Do everything in small pieces. And if at the same time you still have pen pressure working well enough, then you will see how much difference there will be between a solid squiggle and pieces. So, I detailed the clouds on the left a little and darkened the clouds on the right a little, as I began to miss the clear sky.

After carefully studying my drawing, I decided to abandon the arcuate cloud on the left and painted over it with a large soft brush with a low opacity, applying layer by layer. The most important thing here is not to be afraid to abandon the idea and come up with something new. There is nothing wrong with redrawing. But usually this understanding just comes with time. Now, with a cloud brush, with a low opacity and a small diameter, I sketched in the cloud on the left and increased the cloud on the right upper corner, creating noticeable transitions that can be mistaken for soft cloud transitions.

Tip: If you just draw a line with a cloud brush, you will end up with just a spot with ragged edges. In order to get the volume, again, you need to make small strokes with this brush. By overlaying them in random order and have an exclusively visual look, whether you like it or not.

All this time I paint exclusively in white or, taking the color directly from the drawing with an eyedropper, when I made the general mass for the spot on the right, where the sun will be. But for the cloud, I also took a dark blue color and added it below and a little between the white. Since light falls on the cloud from above, a small one will be from below. It is almost imperceptible, but gives a sense of volume.

Armed again (and again, again) with a soft brush at an already high opacity (about 70%), I added details to the clouds on the left, giving them a little more volume. And again, I do this in very smooth and short strokes. Sometimes I just point.

Then I took a light yellow color and added it to the top right corner (soft round brush with low opacity (~30%) and large diameter) where I have the sun. Remember to keep the top left corner dark and clean. There you can add a little purple in order to enhance the depth.

Further actions are not much different from all the previous ones. I enhance the whites on the feather clouds with small and large diameters with varying degrees of opacity. If I don't like a place, I don't erase it, but paint over it with a brush with a large diameter and then detail it again. If you erase, you will get a gap, which then will be more difficult to fix than to paint over.

I clean the sky where there are no clouds, as it is a little dirty with a lighter color. I smooth the transitions from dark blue and down to light. All this is done elementarily with the same brush with a large diameter and low opacity.

The process is coming to an end. I again process all the clouds a little and reduce the saturation at the very bottom. It seemed to me that the clouds were superfluous there. They stuck to the bottom of the picture, removing the feeling of volume. I reduce the saturation very simply - with a brush with a large diameter and low opacity, I just paint over it. The main thing here is not to regret what you drew.

Tip: In such cases, try painting on a separate layer, and then play with its transparency settings, choosing the interval that seems most ideal to you. And when you are satisfied - merge the layers.

I filled the remaining space with two stripes from the plane using a cloud brush with different opacity and diameter.

1. First, with a thin round soft brush, I painted one stripe, then I duplicated it and, after turning it a little as I needed with the transformation, placed it next to it.
2. By increasing the resolution, I used a cloud brush with 100% opacity to go over the entire length of the stripes, gradually increasing the radius of the brush.
3. Switching to the eraser, I lowered its opacity and set the eraser brush to the cloud brush and corrected the stripes that I have spread a little to the sides, since the cloud brush does not lay down in a straight line.
4. With the same eraser, but with a larger diameter, I rubbed the tail a little, making it more transparent and dissolved in the sky.
5. Well, then with a couple of strokes I painted the plane itself. The plane is drawn in such a situation simply with a hard round brush in white. That is, we draw only glare from the sun. And that's it.

I slightly tighten the contrast automatically and see that this way I like the result more, although the difference came out and is not too noticeable. I add a filter Render-> Lens Flare (Filter - Rendering - Glare), setting the point with the "sun" in the upper right corner. I leave all values ​​by default.

Tip: If this results in circles in the top corner, go over the top with a brush to mask the result of the filter.

That, in fact, is all!

I sincerely hope that you enjoyed the lesson on how to draw a sky and hope that you were able to repeat the lesson. Now you can pay attention to the lesson "" - it is just as interesting and exciting. Share this tutorial with your friends on social media. networks.

What will you create

Do you also sometimes admire the incredible beauty of the sky? In this tutorial, I'll show you how to draw beautiful, realistic clouds using Adobe Photoshop.

I'll teach you how to create cumulus, cirrus and storm clouds using different brushes. In the process, I'll cover my favorite tools and techniques for creating incredible, realistic effects.

Looking for source images? These drawings, for example, were inspired by Envato's amazing collection of clouds. Here you can search for high quality stock images.

How to work with almost any cloud image

Many people are against using source images for fear that this approach will lead to laziness. However, this view is a little outdated.

We absolutely need to understand what we see!

Most of what we draw imitates already existing objects. And for this lesson, it is important to understand that in your drawing you can imitate general atmosphere or composition of any photo. Try to recreate some special moments that you can also change to create some kind of effect of your own.

I'll be using a few stock images from Envato Elements. You can also look for your own sources if you feel the need.

I didn't rely too much on the first image, while the other two helped me create different color schemes and lighting schemes. This is another reason to keep stock images close at hand.

Organize your workplace

Now you need to organize your workplace so that it is convenient for you to look at the source.

Click Window>Arrange> 2-UpVertical(Window > Arrange > 2 up, vertical).

This solution is very handy if you prefer to keep the source in a separate file: it will help you to better examine the photo for realistic details.

Now let's draw!

1. How to draw an ordinary cumulus cloud

Step 1

Let's start with the background!

In Photoshop create new document 900 by 450 pixels and 300 pixels per inch. Small documents are good for practice.

Click on the background layer to create a new one. Then add a layer style gradient overlay(Gradient overlay, type - linear) sky blue (using the following shades: #b3d0dd, #90dcff and #68c1f0) with the following settings:

Translator's note: in the screenshot of the layer style settings: Blending mode - Normal, Opacity - 100%, checkbox Align to layer, Angle - 95 degrees, Scale - 81%.

Here's what happens:

You will need a graphics tablet for the following steps.

Then, using a large round soft brush, paint a soft blue dot (color #3a6997) - this will be a shadow, and the cloud will stand out well against its background.

Step 2

On a new layer:

Using a hard round brush (100% hardness(hardness) and Opacity(opacity)) draw a cloud shape with color #adb7c0. Start with a simple shape before moving on to more complex ones.

Start placing light shadows on the cloud.

Make the new layer a clipping mask to the original layer and change its blending mode to Multiply(Multiplication). Use the same color as before to paint the shadows on the cloud, and a clipping mask will help keep the shadows in place.

Start painting with the brush at 100% hardness and opacity, and then gradually lower both values ​​as you soften the shadow.

Translator's note: The names of the layers in the screenshot from top to bottom: (layer clipping mask) 0% Hardness, (layer clipping mask) 100% Hardness, cloud, shadow, Layer 0 (background layer with layer style Gradient overlay)

Step 3

Create the main texture.

Using the brushes from the previous set, paint light curved vertices on the cloud. Use white and light gray (#94a8bc) colors to start creating your lighting scheme right away.

Translator's note: The author uses the Wet Gouache and Acrylic Quick Strokes brushes from her set, 80px and 175px respectively.

Add some blue from the background and then merge the clipping mask layers and the original cloud shape.

I used brushes Fast Acrylic (Fast acrylic) and Wet Gouache (Wet gouache) in this step.

Lightly erase the hard edges with the tool Eraser(Eraser) (E) with 20-40% opacity.

Step 4

Now that we have a good foundation, we can move on!

As before, start painting more shadows on the cloud. Zoom in on the drawing to 200% to draw the lines of the texture, this will give some extra depth. Make sure the option is enabled penPressureforOpacity(Using pressure to determine opacity).

Switch to a hard round brush with pressure adjustment opacity from the standard set of brushes. Use it to work on small areas where the cloud merges with the sky.

Clouds have "pockets" of light and shadow (see below), so further plan for areas where you want to create depth and movement. Add some gray blotches for a realistic transition.

Step 5

Let the cloud develop naturally. Return to sources periodically, but don't let them distract you.

Use a soft round brush with 0% opacity to surround the cloud with a soft mist.

Step 6

Let's adjust the colors with adjustment layers.

First, add a new adjustment layer GradientMap(gradient map) light blue (#c6cbd4 and #b4cbdc), change the blend mode to colorBurn(Base darkening).

Create a New Adjustment Layer Levels(Levels) with the settings as in the screenshot below. This will add definition, which is necessary for this image.

Step 7

Now that we have reached the required intensity, we can move on to painting the details. First, let's balance the sky.

A quick way to paint the sky is to simply use a new layer. On it with a soft round brush, paint with a light blue color.

Constantly change the opacity, and don't worry if it looks sloppy!

A soft brush is more suitable for cirrus clouds, but a hard edge will help bring out the details.

Keep working on the background, adding small clouds somewhere in the distance. Create a sense of depth by drawing puffs of mist around the cloud.

Step 8

Now that we've got desired colors, we can focus on finishing touches.

Add new layers and try to paint swirls on them with brushes of various shapes. Switch to brush Chalk(Chalk) to add realism to your clouds - the extra texture will immediately make them more alive and real.

Finally, add some yellow to show the effect of sunlight on the cloud and sky.

And here is the final image!

2. How to draw storm clouds

Step 1

To depict a thundercloud, we will need to change the lighting scheme.

Let's start with the sky. Create a document with the same settings as before. Right click on the first layer and go to BlendingOptions(Overlay options).

Select Gradientoverlay(Gradient Overlay) and use the colors #373984 and #6364ad to create a purple gradient.

Translator's note: In the screenshot of the layer style settings: Blend Mode - Normal, Opacity - 100%, Angle - 90 degrees, Scale - 95%.

Here's what should happen:

Step 2

I felt that there was no need to create sketches for these drawings. For me personally, the best way to get started is to create a new layer, and paint the shape of the clouds in purple (#5354a6) color.

As before, I create a clipping mask for each shape to paint the first layer of light and shadow.

At this stage, I used the tool Brush(Brush) (B), namely a soft round brush with hardness 0% and opacity 50%.

Draw as you see. Draw dark (#33367f) round bumps to represent the shadows, and lighter dots to represent the light areas. It will look very strange at first, but clipping masks will help you develop your skills.

Create a new layer under the clouds layer. On it add a soft (brush opacity 1-40%) white glow behind the clouds, because now it's too dark.

Step 3

Add more background elements. Start with dark fluffy clouds, and then add a shadow at the bottom of the drawing - this is our city. Use the tool to select colors. eyedropper(Pipette) (E), and paint with those shades that are already present in the image.

On new layers draw lightning.

Trust your intuition. Note that the drawing changes as I change the original composition. (https://elements.envato.com/lightnings-in-genova-PT5D3YJ?_ga=2.159379450.1386686125.1504629647-250820929.1491318132)

Now mix, mix, mix!

Lower hardness(hardness) to 0% and on new layers soften the sky. Make it big, determined and also swirling

movements so that the result looks like real clouds.

Keep working on your drawing. Try to achieve a softer result before moving on to the details. Later, when you have already dealt with the details foreground, it will be harder to soften the background elements.

You can also play with the shape of the cloud in the upper left corner a bit to make it more interesting.

Step 4

Take a tool Gradient(Gradient) (G) and choose a linear gradient from black to transparent.

Use it to draw a deep shadow that dissipates towards the top. Adjust the opacity if necessary. This will symbolize the city. Sketch lightning.

Add an Adjustment Layer colorlookup(Color search). Change the 3DLUT file to Fuji F125 Kodak 2393.

Then make the colors even more intense with an adjustment layer. brightness/contrast(Brightness/Contrast, settings 54/34 respectively).

Step 5

Take a soft round brush to create fluffy clouds. Thunderclouds are very hard, so we will need to paint on several layers.

For best results, experiment with opacity. High opacity is good for sharp details, while lower values ​​will help blend colors that are close in tone.

If you have to press too hard on the tablet, the opacity is too low. This can create discomfort - believe me, I already know!

Continue working on your drawing. Study the light as it passes through the clouds.

Make the city darker, and add bright, crisp lines - these are our lightning bolts.

Step 6

If you think that the picture is too dull, then brighten it up!

Use an adjustment layer brightness/contrast(Brightness/Contrast, settings 25/39 respectively).

Step 7

LinearDodge(Add) (Linear Dodge (add)).

soft purple draw lightning to make them shine. Zoom in and add specks of red, green and white at the bottom. This will create an image of a small town, and the image will be even more spectacular.

Do not forget to periodically look at the original!

Too intense colors? Change them with an adjustment layer.

Add an Adjustment Layer colorlookup(Color lookup) with 3DLUT 2Strip.look file. Lower Opacity(opacity) up to 47%.

As always, keep working on the drawing until you are happy with the result. For example, I decided to add small white dots to create the effect of a starry sky.

Small details can make a big difference in your drawing, making it even more impressive - don't forget about them!

And here is my final drawing of thunderclouds.

3. How to draw cirrus clouds

Step 1

Let's move on to the last picture!

Cirrus clouds are very mysterious. They are a mixture of soft, delicate shapes and hard highlights. I advise doing this part with a regular color scheme. Sunset colors are certainly very beautiful, but they can complicate the lesson and confuse you.

Nonetheless, if you feel a surge of courage let's get started.

Create a document with the same settings as before and start from the background. Go to BlendingOptions(Overlay Options), select Gradientoverlay(Gradient Overlay) and use the colors #334b82 and #b5c1dc to create a gradient.

Translator's note: In the screenshot of the layer style settings: Blend Mode - Normal, Opacity - 100%, Angle - -85 degrees, Scale - 93%.

Here's what happens.

Step 2

Using a hard round brush with 100% opacity at the bottom of the picture brown draw the earth - this will be the basis of the composition.

Apply vibrant sunset colors (#ffa466, #ce6764) using the previously mentioned acrylic texture brush.

Let's highlight the sky!

Create a new layer and change its blend mode to overlay(Overlap). With a tool GradientTool(Gradient) (G) Create a gradient from blue (#335f8e) to transparent. Now the sky looks better!

Gradient overlay, before and after.

Step 4

Use a soft round brush to add silky textures for a nice, harmonious look. Try not to linger for a long time on one section of the composition, periodically switching from one to another.

Add light yellow and shades of blue. Zoom in on the drawing by 200% and make sure your shadows are fluid. Here it is important to go back to the source.

Continue softening and blending colors, even if you think you could add more clouds already.

Step 5

Add a New Adjustment Layer Curves(Curves).

In the RGB channel, make the curve high to increase the contrast.

Don't miss the opportunity to apply the skills that we have gained by creating the previous two drawings.

Cirrus clouds are not rigid. Here it is important to draw the clouds swirling in different directions as if they are floating - this will make the drawing more characteristic and add movement.

Continue working on the sky, painting in bright orange above the ground to show that the sun is setting/rising. Adjust the lighting on the ground to enhance the composition.

Multiply(Multiply) and paint the ground in green.

Decrease the brush size but increase the opacity. Add some details - draw small patches of grass.

Create a new layer, blend mode - overlay(Overlap). Paint with bright yellows and oranges for a beautiful sunlight effect.

Drawing on a tablet requires a lot of time and patience. No matter how many hours pass - keep working.

Finally, enlarge the drawing and put the details in order. Use a hard round brush with 100% opacity to get rid of the fuzzy areas. You can also experiment with adjustment layers to make the drawing even more dramatic.

Before and after using a hard brush.

Here is the final cloud drawing. Below you can find them all.

That's all!

Don't forget to bookmark this tutorial - it will help you in future work!

Drawing nature is one of the most better ways development. Carefully study the sources, and competently approach the workflow - so you can achieve the best results.