Sky and Cloud Assignment for Acrylic Landscape Painting

Painting skies is one of the most rewarding parts of landscape painting because it sets the entire mood and light for your piece. In this assignment, you’ll take what you’ve learned from the previous sky and cloud lessons and create a complete study that includes both value and color gradations, plus cloud perspective and structure.

This lesson is part of the Acrylic Landscape Painting Fundamentals Course.

Understanding the Assignment

Your goal is to build a sky study from scratch using the value and color techniques covered earlier. Begin with a clear horizon line and define your distant shapes — this could be soft mountain forms or rolling hills. Use the vanishing point as a guide for your cloud direction and gradation flow.

Start by filling in the sky from the top down. Work with cooler, darker values near the top and gradually transition to warmer, lighter tones closer to the horizon. Be mindful of the shape and tilt of each cloud — this helps build believable depth and motion in the sky.

Steps to Follow

1. Create your composition sketch using simple shapes and a single vanishing point.
2. Build your sky gradation from top to bottom using three to four values.
3. Add cloud forms using perspective lines to guide direction and overlap.
4. Introduce soft ground shapes and distant color harmony.
5. Compare your results to master examples to analyze depth and atmosphere.

Course Navigation

Next Lesson: My Take on Assignment - coming soon
Previous Lesson: Master's Sky and Cloud Analysis
Landscape Hub: View All Acrylic Landscape Lessons

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Recommended Acrylic Painting Materials

• Princeton Catalyst Brushes – Flats (#6, #12), Rounds (#4, #8), Fan (#4), Liner Brush
  Durable synthetic bristles for versatile acrylic techniques
• Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic Paint – Essential Colors
  Cadmium Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Alizarin Crimson, Cadmium Red Light, Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt Blue, Burnt Sienna, Titanium White
• Winsor & Newton Cotton Canvas
  Reliable stretched canvas for studio and plein air work
• Strathmore 400 Series Mixed Media Paper
  Heavyweight, acid-free paper for acrylic and mixed media
• Fabriano Artistico 140lb Cold Press Paper
  Excellent for acrylic, mixed media, and textured effects
• Blick Multi-Colored Painting Knife Set
  Variety of shapes for texture, scraping, and bold strokes
• Miscellaneous: Two pint-sized water containers, paper towels (from Home Depot or Walmart)
• Note: I use canvas or sturdy cardboard as my palette — no store-bought palettes needed.