Before the cloud cover came back to Western Washington, we had over a week of clear skies and spectacular sunrises. This is one of them that I had posted on Facebook. The sky was mostly pink and I wondered if “pink in the morning” meant the same as “red in the morning.”  Conclusion: it does. Rain appeared within a day or two.

Here is how to paint this 10×10 piece:

1) with a large 1 1/2″ or 2″ flat brush, paint in dilute ultramarine blue, gradating to cerulean blue, and then to alizarin crimson (remember you are gradating both in tone (light mid-tone to very light) and in color (from blue to pink)), saving some white at the horizon;

2) fill your brush with very thick dark ultramarine blue, cerulean blue, alizarin crimson (only a little red), and sepia, using the technique of charging in 1 or 2 colors at a time, not mixing them on the palette, and letting the dark tones mix with the sky in a few places to form soft edges

3) with a very small round brush, paint in a few tree shapes at the horizon;

4) let the paint dry, then finally with the small brush, paint in some horizontal distant clouds with dilute ultramarine blue.

This is one of very few times that I have painted in layers, but it seemed to work to give the illusion of cloud shapes.

KC