Painting Skies in Pastel: Creating dramatic clouds and atmospheric skyscapes

Learn how to use pastels to care skies filled with mood, atmosphere and drama.

A sky can make or break a landscape painting. In this invaluable guide, award-winning artist Sandra Orme teaches you how to create a broad range of skies in pastel, from sunsets and sunbeams, rain and storms, through to delicate dusks and dawns. Containing:

* All the essential materials and techniques areclearly explained

* A section on color theory focusses on those aspects key to painting skies: how to retain vibrancy; how to avoid muddy colors through the use of 'bridging' colors; and how many pastels to use for best effect.

* Build your skills gradually through 6 step-by-step demonstrations of particular skies worked from photographs, each looking at a particular sky effect, from the bright clouds on a fresh, blustery day to rich sunsets. Each main stage is shown both before and after blending for clarity.

* Sandra's 'sky clinic' offers more specialist and technical help on some of the common problems readers might encounter when painting skies in pastel. A "first-aid course" in how to identify and correct common problems.

With numerous handy tips and many examples of Sandra’s stunning landscapes throughout, and assuming no prior knowledge, Sandra both instructs and inspirse you to create beautiful, realistic skies with confidence.