How to Paint Skies and Clouds in Watercolour

Posted by

Haanz Team

2026-10-23

On 2026-10-23

Haanz Art GuideFree, practical advice from the team at Haanz Art & Craft Materials

Learning to paint skies in watercolour is one of the quickest ways to make your landscapes look fresh and alive. Skies use the things watercolour does well: soft blends, flowing water and the white of the paper. This Haanz Art Guide shows you the supplies to use and four simple ways to paint skies and clouds, from a clear blue sky to a sunset and a monsoon storm.

What you need

Camel Artist Watercolour 12x5ml: 12 colours in 5ml tubes, with clear, transparent tones for washes.
Pentel Watercolour 24 Tubes: a wider palette if you want more ready-made blues, oranges and pinks.
Bomeijia W/C pad 300GSM A4: heavyweight 300gsm paper that handles very wet skies without too much buckling.
Crimto Watercolour Quill Mop Brush, size 6: a full head that holds a lot of water and colour, ideal for big sky washes.
Apple Fine Red Sable Brush, size 6: a pointed round brush for cloud edges and birds.
Nyoni Artist Masking Tape: low-tack tape to hold the paper down and give a clean border.

You will also need two jars of water, a soft tissue or kitchen paper, and a pencil. See more paints in Watercolours and paper in Drawing Papers For Watercolours. Prices change, so see each product page for today’s price.

Useful sky colours

Blues: a warm ultramarine-type blue and a cooler, greener blue if your set has one.
Warm colours: yellow, orange and a soft red or pink for sunrise and sunset.
Greys: mix blue with a little brown or orange for natural cloud greys. These look softer than black.

Always test a mix on scrap paper. Watercolour dries lighter than it looks when wet.

How to paint skies in watercolour: four methods

1. Clear blue graded sky

Tape the paper down on all four sides.
Tilt your board slightly so the paint flows downwards.
Load the mop brush with blue and paint a band across the top.
Add a little water to the brush for each new band, so the blue fades towards the horizon.
Leave it to dry without touching it.

2. Soft clouds with wet-on-wet

Wet the sky area with clean water until it has an even shine.
Drop blue around the edges of where you want clouds, leaving white shapes.
Touch a pale grey mix into the bottom of each cloud for shadow.
Let the colours spread on their own. Do not keep brushing.

3. Lifting clouds with tissue

Paint a blue wash over the whole sky.
While it is still wet, press a crumpled tissue onto the paper and lift. Each press leaves a fluffy white cloud.
Use a fresh part of the tissue each time so you do not put colour back.

4. Sunset and monsoon sky

For a sunset, wet the paper and paint bands of yellow, orange and pink from the horizon up, then add blue at the very top. For a stormy monsoon sky, use heavy blue-grey mixes on wet paper and tilt the board so the colours run. Add a dark land line at the bottom once dry to make the sky glow.

Tips for watercolour skies in Sri Lanka

Humidity slows drying. On damp days, washes stay wet longer. This gives you more blending time, but wait longer before painting the land.
Work fast and stop early. Skies look fresh when painted in one go. Going back into a half-dry wash causes blooms and hard marks.
Mix enough paint first. Prepare all your colours before you wet the paper.
Use real skies. Sri Lankan skies change fast between seasons, so take photos of clouds and sunsets for reference.

Common sky mistakes

Cauliflower blooms: caused by adding wet paint into a drying wash. Add colour only while the shine is still even.
Hard cloud edges everywhere: soften some edges with a damp brush so the clouds look light.
Muddy greys: mix with only two colours and use plenty of water.

For more practice, read Watercolour Techniques for Beginners and Watercolour Landscape for Beginners. Made a mistake? See How to Fix Watercolour Mistakes.

Frequently asked questions

Which paper is good for wet skies?

Heavy paper of around 300gsm handles big washes much better than thin paper. Taping it down on all sides also helps it dry flatter.

Why does my sky dry patchy?

Usually the paper dried unevenly or there was too little paint on the brush. Wet the paper evenly and load the brush fully for each stroke.

Do you deliver islandwide?

Yes. We deliver across Sri Lanka in 2–5 working days, with cash on delivery, card or bank transfer. You can also visit our shops in Boralesgamuwa and Horana, open every day from 9 AM to 6 PM.

Not sure what to choose? Call / WhatsApp the Haanz team on 0711 515 515 and we’ll help you pick watercolours, paper and a mop brush for painting skies.

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