Elements of Landscape: Drawing the Sky

How do you draw the sky? That great endless arc of blue? Sometimes, you might want to leave it white, but there are times when that creates more problems than it solves. This lesson on Drawing the Sky looks at some different sky conditions and how to approach drawing them. Follow this with the step-by-step lesson on Drawing Clouds.

Don't forget that you can always borrow techniques from other masters. You don't have to re-invent the wheel. Blogger David Apatoff, at Illustration Art has written an interesting post on Rembrandt's treatment of the sky in his etching - 'How many lines does it take to draw a blue sky?'. Awe-inspiring stuff. Don't just look, though - get that pen out and try it for yourself!

Tip: Often, we see the sky as a 'backdrop' to our subject of the building, animals or landscape that we are drawing. But the sky can be an important part of a composition. It is the light source, even at night, and can dramatically alter the mood of a drawing. You might like to try creating a drawing where the subject is the sky.

More on Landscape Drawing:
Drawing Clouds Step by Step
Sketching Trees
Sketching with Pen and Ink
Landscape Drawing Ideas