How to paint clouds - it's really easy

. Sky blue, satin finish paint
. White satin finish emulsion paint
. Glaze
. Paint tray
. Measuring jug or cup
. Sea sponges, hand sized and smaller. 2 or 3 pieces of different sizes will be sufficient
. A piece of cheesecloth, about 18" x 24" inches big enough to form into a handsized ball.
. A piece of board approximately 3' x 2' or heavy cardboard pieces for practice.
. Pictures of clouds for reference.

Personally I prefer to use water based emulsion paints (acrylic paint/house paint) with a water based glaze. Available at good DIY stores and craft suppliers.

Lets get started!


A cloud room with duck shapes to add even more interest.

1.
Paint your background sky a sky blue. Paint a piece of board to practise your technique. Allow to dry for 24 hours.

2.
Mix the white paint with your glaze using a 4 to 1 ratio (ie. 1 cup of glaze to 1/4 cup of white paint) Mix thoroughly and pour into paint tray.

3.
Wet your cheesecloth with water and wring out well. You will use this to soften your sponge marks.

4.
Keep any pictures of clouds nearby. You can refer to them for cloud shape ideas.
Wet a sponge with water, and wring it out completely.
Dab it into the white paint. Remove excess paint on the edge of your tray.

Use your painted blue board to practice.

5.
Play around with the sponge, dabbing on the paint. See what marks you can make by vaying the pressure of your dabs, twist and turn the sponge as you experiment.

6.
Look at clouds, they generally have a flat bottom.
That's where we start.
With your sponge, start dabbing on the board in a fairly straight line for the bottom of the cloud. Then start dabbing paint above this line, twisting and turning the sponge as you dab to create texture and variation.

7.
When you are satisfied with the general shape of the cloud, take your cheesecloth and make a ball with it. Dab gently over the cloud, softening the paint to make it more 'cloudy' looking.

8.
Build up the cloud with more dabbing towards the center adding texture and fading out towards the edge of the cloud. The centre of the cloud should be more dense. Soften the effect again with your cloth. Use this technique with all the clouds.

9.
When you are happy, head for the wall!
Don't make your first cloud dead center of the wall. It is will look unnatural. Start off-centre and down a bit.
The size of your clouds depends on the size of your room, but if you take a room of about 8x10' you could make your biggest clouds 20-24inches long and your smallest about 5-10inches.

This is just an approximate guide. Adjust your sizes to fit your room.

10.
Vary the sizes of your clouds. Start with the biggest clouds and dot them around the room. Stand back often to see the effect.
Fill the spaces in between the big clouds with medium and lastly small wispy clouds.
Now make admiring noises!
WOW,I did that!

There are other methods which you may find more suited to you for instance, Cloudwash is a kit that not only teaches you how to paint clouds on walls, but contains the paints, video, gloves, cloths and tools to complete the project for under $50. This cloudwash kit can be purchased from the Magic Mural Factory

Click here to see how to create clouds with a cloudwash kit



Take a look at some more cloud projects you can do yourself, Like this stencil cloud mural above

These interactive wall art characters are a great addition to a cloud themed nursery.

They Glow in the dark and Play music when pressed. Place them on the wall around your baby's crib.

You can see these and more at my website on this page Magic Mural Factory or click on the images below to go straight to the details for each.

The Sky's the limit

Paint a dreamy castle in the clouds with the help of A Wall Story E-mural

Wall Story E-murals can be intantly downloaded onto yout computer (for a mere $12) which on payment automatically emails you your password to download.

Print the design onto overhead projector film (or enlarge it onto paper using an photocopier).
Trace and paint following the simple paint by number instructions.

Click on the image below to see more details on how how you can easily paint a castle in the clouds for your little girls room.