How To Paint A Stormy Sky In Acrylic

Ideas For More Painting More Dynamic Skies in Acrylics

When painting skies in acrylics, blue is not the only colour you should be thinking of. If you have seen my 7 Painting Rules to Remember post then you will be familiar with Rule No. 7, "The Sky Is Not Always Blue"

In this article, I want to dig a little deeper and show you some examples of just what other colours the sky can be. Pick any colour you like, they are all there. One thing I never see the sky as, though, is grey. So here are my top 5 colours for action-packed skies.

1. Red Sky

Sunrise, sunset, smoky, foggy etc. There are a number of situations in which the sky looks red. When painting skies in acrylics I want you to not only consider red but also pink because pink is really just a pale form of red. The sky in the following image is red because of the "Vog". Vog is volcanic smog caused by Mt Kīlauea, the active volcano on the Big Island in Hawaii.

When painting skies in acrylics you can use red to show smoke, fog or vog, such as in this reference photo of a beach in Hawaii

2. Yellow Sky

For me, I associate a yellow sky with the morning. I think that more often than not, the evening sky has more of a red hue. Another situation where yellow would be my preferred colour for a sky is when your painting only shows a sliver of the sky above the horizon. This area often has a yellow glow, even in the middle of the day.

Yellow can be used when painting skies in acrylics such as in this painting reference photo

3. Purple Sky

There are two situations in which I would consider purple for a sky. The first is on a cloudy or completely overcast day. The second is similar to the yellow sky in that often, just above the horizon, a clear sky can appear purple. This usually happens when the light source (the sun) is coming from behind the view of your painting.

Directly above the horizon in this acrylic painting the sky has been painted in purple.

4. Green Sky

The most often time I use green for a sky in my painting is in that area in between the blue of the sky above and the yellow mentioned in the second point, just above the horizon. Of course when you think about it, green is the obvious choice in this situation because the sky does not just suddenly change from blue to yellow. There has to be a transition.

Green is used in acrylic paintings where the skies transition from yellow at the horizon to blue at the top of the sky

Two other, less frequent, uses of green in the sky may not be quite so obvious. The first is in a really stormy sky, there can often be an area of green. Sailors will tell you that when the sky looks green, there is going to be a huge storm.

The second is one of my secret pro-tips that I share with my students.

When you are trying to paint that really, really bright centre of the sun, the brightest yellow or whitest white never seems bright enough. Adding a touch of green to the centre of the sun is going to give it the extra oomph that it needs to make it appear as if the light is emanating from the sun in your painting.

The centre of the sun can appear green in the skies of acrylic paintings — Hideaway, acrylic painting on canvas 90cm x 60cm

5. Multi-Coloured Sky

The last sky I want to talk about is the multi-coloured sky. This is the one that includes a bit of all the elements I have just talked about combined in the one painting. This sky is a combination of sun, clear sky and lots of different types of clouds. Usually, there are high level, low level and big fluffy cumulus rain clouds in a multi-coloured sky.

A multi-coloured sky painted in acrylics that includes high level, low level and fluffy cumulus clouds on a sunrise background — Work in Progress of a Multi-Coloured Sky

So there you have it, my top 5 colours (other than blue) for painting skies. You will notice there is one colour that is missing from my list. That colour is grey.

THE SKY IS NOT ALWAYS BLUE but I encourage you to NEVER see it as grey.

Not all countries are lucky enough to have the clear skies that we usually see here in Australia. Therefore, where you live, your sky may indeed appear grey. But what is grey? In painting terms, grey is a mixture of all three of the primary colours. So, even if you say to me, "I'm sorry but the sky where I live is definitely grey" then I encourage you to add some life to that sky with colour. Use your artistic licence. Separate out the three primary colours in the sky of your paintings. If you get it right, the viewer will still see grey because their mind's eye will mix the colours together. But the end result for you will be a more vibrant, interesting and exciting painting.

If you are looking for ideas to create more dynamic-looking skies in acrylic painting then enter your contact details here to gain access to my personal collection of free painting reference photos. This month I will be adding more drama-filled skies to the catalogue so if you want to be kept in the loop please subscribe to my email list by entering your details below.