Winter Mist

With your skies, try not to touch the edges of the clouds when blending. Only blend the bottoms. You may also be using too much paint. I can see in your signature that it is really thick. You have started with a very difficult season. The seasons don't really build on each other. Bob's instruction is much better after season 5. You might want to go to a later season and come back to season one later. I really like the trees behind the cabin.

I do only blend the bottoms. The problem happens during the back and forth strokes across the canvas. Do you just avoid touching the tops at all? I just love Bob’s clouds. They’re fluffy. Mine are always hard and flat. Like spilled milk on the floor.

Oh boy there is definitely a learning curve with this style of painting. I always do the back and forth strokes to blend the sky color before starting the clouds. Once the clouds are on, I only blend the bottoms. If the tops need softening I use a 1.5 inch goat hair brush. You can pick one up for around $5 at Hobby Lobby or Michaels. An makeup brush will also work. Even with a very soft brush it's a very soft touch. 2 hairs and some air. Hope this helps you. You have talent and I want you to see the results you're looking for.

Excellent tip! I’m going to spend an evening just practicing clouds.

"2 hairs and some air" as Bob would say. A very soft touch.

Please post your practice clouds, I'll check back here for them if you don't want to upload as a seperate post.

Bob, I too struggle with my clouds still to this day. Tomi (indicationofart) gave you the best tip. With practice, you'll get the hang of it. Also, take a step back once in a while when you do your sky with clouds. From a more distant point of view, things look different. It might help with the over blending situation. You'll stop yourself before it happens and get a great outcome. 😉

And yes, the 1st 5 seasons are more challenging than the rest as far as mud mixing due to too much paint on the canvas. Again, Tomi gave you a great advice on that part.

I forgot to mention that your compo looks really good! Well done Bob!

Thank you. I appreciate you and Tomi’s advice! I’m having so much fun (unexpectedly) that I’m wondering why I didn’t try this years ago? I watched Bob as a kid on PBS in the 80s (PBS was one of three channels we got) but I did not like and did not try it. I’m glad to have rediscovered recently.

So funny to remember we only had 3 channels!