Painting Fluffy White Clouds with Watercolors - Beginner Tutorial

If you saw my beginner landscape tutorial last month, then you know that I’ve been dabbling in landscape painting lately! It’s been a ton of fun and I’ve wasted a ton of paper in the process—but that’s how we learn, right?

The hardest part for me was the clouds. Okay, there were a couple of challenging aspects, but I felt like bad clouds would ruin my paintings! I have really loved the look of big fluffy white cumulus clouds. Bonus if they have some beautiful reflective colors hidden in there! But it took me a long time to really find my rhythm with them and a technique that I felt like was consistent with the rest of my paintings, but still had the realism and the look that I was after.

In this video I’m going to share with you my steps and process for painting these pretty, fluffy white clouds with watercolor paints. I think you’ll find it surprisingly simple and easy to recreate! I’ve repeated the process several times by now and so far it hasn’t failed me. Let’s dive in:

Supplies:*

Paper: Strathmore 300
Large Palette: https://amzn.to/2NMsJZD
Watercolor brushes: (quill, size 6) https://amzn.to/3mpcty7, (round, size 10) https://amzn.to/3yQoEJz

My Palette:

Top: (right to left)

Burnt Sienna: https://amzn.to/2UoERCW
Burnt Umber: https://amzn.to/2Un00xo
Piemontite Genuine: https://amzn.to/2QT0qJR
Deep Scarlet: https://amzn.to/39pxWxF
Alizarin Crimson: https://amzn.to/2QU0NUr
Cadmium Red (deep): https://amzn.to/2UoZr6f
Cadmium Red (pale): https://amzn.to/3dxuBQu
Cadmium Orange: https://amzn.to/2QRTmND

Side: (top to bottom)

Cadmium Yellow: https://amzn.to/2JnWjBe
Lemon Yellow Hue: https://amzn.to/2JoldAK
Yellow Ochre: https://amzn.to/3dEfbKb
Raw Sienna: https://amzn.to/2JitA0K
Terre Verte (Yellow Shade): https://amzn.to/33SBCXz
Sap Green: https://amzn.to/39rMVHA
Hooker’s Green: https://amzn.to/3atQhLi
Jadeite Genuine: https://amzn.to/2WRSz30

Bottom: (left to right)

Viridian Hue: https://amzn.to/3arbw0u
Intense Blue (Phthalo): https://amzn.to/3alKCHf
Ultramarine: https://amzn.to/3dzetxT
Mayan Blue Genuine: https://amzn.to/2JlSfSb
Indigo: https://amzn.to/2xvJFh7
Amethyst Genuine: https://amzn.to/3aqN3ID
Permanent Rose: https://amzn.to/2QSZrt9
Rhodonite Genuine: https://amzn.to/3bwCqUH

Off Screen:

Ivory Black: https://amzn.to/39rOCEG
Hematite Genuine (warm black): https://amzn.to/2WNGKe2
Chinese White: https://amzn.to/3bwRt0B

*As an Amazon associate, I receive a small commission on some of the links above if you make a purchase—at no extra cost to you! Read my full disclosure here