Painting clouds....

I'm not sure you are going to get great results. Put a sign up at a local college in the art department saying what you want and what you are willing to pay. I am sure a capable starving artist will respond and you will get a more professional look.

Green Witch


What a great idea. You will get a good looking ceiling and the student will get a small amount of money and experience. A win win situation.

BBB

Green Witch has great idea. There are many "faux" painting specialists out there. We used one to paint a fake wood grain on our baseboard cast iron radiators. Looked great.


In oil painting we often put down a ground color over a primer (gesso) and then paint the blue around the ground. Often when you paint clouds they "pop out" if you dont paint white clouds over top a blue sky. They look more real if you paint a blue sky around everything left white. That way you can get a more whispy look . Also put some tiny amount of pinkish grey into certain areas of the clouds to show that they have dimensions and dont look like flat plotzeks

BBB


You might also want to consider adding a glaze to the cloud paint so you can work with it longer and blend it into the sky easier.

BBB

yeh and get a lot of Ben Gaye cause yer gonna have a stiff neck

Here's my idea: Paint the ceiling blue like you originally planned, but then leave it that way.

Next get some stiff white construction paper, some string, and a few tacks.

Now, cut the construction paper into the shapes of clouds and with the string and tacks, hang them from the ceiling.

Don't hang them too low or you will be ducking all the time. But if you hang them at the appropriate height you will have a wonderful illusion of a cloudy day and will surely be the envy of the neighborhood.

these two tips are absolutely key

ya gotta do the white first - then the blue and shading

<oh, really?>

that's what we were taught mmmmmmmmm 40 years ago when i took oil painting classes and then about a decade ago i saw the same tip on a home deco program.

it looks much better if it's done blue on white

i'm sure i could remember the theory behind "why" if i worked my brain over

Well, I am not a ceiling cloud painter, so I dunno. But on canvas, I slap some white around over the gesso but may miss the odd spot. Will add some blue or grey here and there, possibly payne's. Will add some more white, fairly sloppily. More blue over there. Various paint strokes to have cloud movement get in gear.. more white, some of it fairly faint puff forms or streaks, slashes... more blue or grey for definition, here, or there. I agree with the tad of pink or whatever... depends. As I get happier I end up with addition of thick bright opaque white here or there. My skies can be fuzzy foggy or wild storms, again, depends. They're never planned, are just a call and response thing... usually to one of my own photos.

Are you doing the whole ceiling? Do you plan to look up at it a lot, or just like the idea of sky in the room? (There is wallpaper, not sure how good the range is for it being realistic... ) Or are you keen on the painting experience?

Wallpaper website - http://discount-wallcovering.com/clouds.htm

Well,

I really don't want to get someone to do it for me, I really wanted it to be something I created.

yes, as I stated in my first post, I do realize I have to use a cloud glaze.

I really don't want wall paper either.

getting the pinks, oranges, greys, yes, that's why I said I was going to practice on scrap drywall until I can learn how to paint what I want.

farmer, I see what you are saying about painting the blue around the clouds, but I'm not sure what you mean about first applying a ground.
What do you mean? A primer? yes, of course I was going to prime first.

Anyway, my question still stands. Does anyone know of a material that I'd be able to paint at an angle I'd be comfortable, like sitting or standing, without craning my neck upwards, that I could then cut out and adhere to the ceiling

Green Witch. Can you please explain what problems I might run into when you say the results wouldn't look professional? Any suggestions besides just painting directly on the ceiling?

Painting the sky with clouds
BY KRIS OCCHINO / FOR THE SUN CHRONICLE
Kris Occhino, an Attleboro artist and art educator and owner of the Treetop Studio.

Start this project by selecting a warm blue color and painting two coats on the area you want to be sky.

The next day, mix a warm, creamy white eggshell or satin finish paint 50/50 with a glaze. All stores sell glazes and paint companies publish brochures on how to use and mix the glaze with their paints.

Follow their instructions.

You will also need to purchase a large natural sea sponge at the paint store and it is advisable to wear plastic or latex gloves.

Submerge the sponge in water and squeeze out all the water so it is only damp. Put your glaze/paint mixture in a shallow tray. Have a towel or a pad of paper towels in one hand and the damp sponge in the other. Place your sponge in the paint/glaze mixture just enough to cover it on one side. Dab off some of the paint onto the towel.

Now sponge paint your cloud on the ceiling. You will have to constantly load and off-load your sponge with paint before sponging the paint on the ceiling. Keep the edges of the clouds lacy looking and remember, less is more.

Leave approximately 60 percent of the sky cloudless. I think you want to achieve a fair weather look as opposed to a stormy, gloomy one.

To add interest to your sky, paint or stencil on birds, butterflies, vines.

Paper the ceiling

If you live in a Victorian home and your ceiling is sound but has hairline cracks in it, you can wallpaper the ceiling.

In Victorian times, ceilings in parlors and dining rooms were often papered with elaborately patterned paper.

This type of wall covering is available today. You will want to fill in any cracks in the ceiling first with joint compound and sand them when it dries. (Your local home store expert can advise you on this process if you have not done it before.)

Companies also make embossed wall coverings that when painted with metallic pewter (silver) or copper colored paint look just like the old-fashioned tin ceilings. These wall coverings can hide a multitude of sins.

I would want an expert to apply this type of wallpaper to the ceiling and then roll the paint on it later myself.

You can use paint mixed with glaze to age the look of this ceiling.

For a silver metallic painted ceiling use a charcoal gray glaze. Roll the glaze on the day after the metallic paint has dried.

Now using a light, quick, circular motion, wipe the paint off the raised areas of the paper leaving it in the recessed areas. This will heighten the three-dimensional appearance of the paper, making it almost impossible to tell that it is not a real tin ceiling.

If you need a little inspiration to get you going, I recommend visiting mansions in Newport, R.I., such as Chateau Sur Mer or the Breakers. Closer to home, in Providence, is the historic Renaissance mansion, the Gov. Henry Lippitt House Museum, completed in 1865. It is located at 199 Hope St. and is open to the public. The walls and ceilings offer amazing examples of faux-finish painting that replicates marbles, wood grain.

Remember, it is only paint and can always be painted over. Be courageous and try something new to add some warmth, drama and excitement to your home, whether it is old or new.

You might just create a real conversation spot for your family and friends to enjoy.

Painting the sky with clouds
Painting the sky with clouds
BY KRIS OCCHINO / FOR THE SUN CHRONICLE
Kris Occhino, an Attleboro artist and art educator and owner of the Treetop Studio.

Start this project by selecting a warm blue color and painting two coats on the area you want to be sky.

The next day, mix a warm, creamy white eggshell or satin finish paint 50/50 with a glaze. All stores sell glazes and paint companies publish brochures on how to use and mix the glaze with their paints.

Follow their instructions.

You will also need to purchase a large natural sea sponge at the paint store and it is advisable to wear plastic or latex gloves.

Submerge the sponge in water and squeeze out all the water so it is only damp. Put your glaze/paint mixture in a shallow tray. Have a towel or a pad of paper towels in one hand and the damp sponge in the other. Place your sponge in the paint/glaze mixture just enough to cover it on one side. Dab off some of the paint onto the towel.

Now sponge paint your cloud on the ceiling. You will have to constantly load and off-load your sponge with paint before sponging the paint on the ceiling. Keep the edges of the clouds lacy looking and remember, less is more.

Leave approximately 60 percent of the sky cloudless. I think you want to achieve a fair weather look as opposed to a stormy, gloomy one.

To add interest to your sky, paint or stencil on birds, butterflies, vines.

Paper the ceiling

If you live in a Victorian home and your ceiling is sound but has hairline cracks in it, you can wallpaper the ceiling.

In Victorian times, ceilings in parlors and dining rooms were often papered with elaborately patterned paper.

This type of wall covering is available today. You will want to fill in any cracks in the ceiling first with joint compound and sand them when it dries. (Your local home store expert can advise you on this process if you have not done it before.)

Companies also make embossed wall coverings that when painted with metallic pewter (silver) or copper colored paint look just like the old-fashioned tin ceilings. These wall coverings can hide a multitude of sins.

I would want an expert to apply this type of wallpaper to the ceiling and then roll the paint on it later myself.

You can use paint mixed with glaze to age the look of this ceiling.

For a silver metallic painted ceiling use a charcoal gray glaze. Roll the glaze on the day after the metallic paint has dried.

Now using a light, quick, circular motion, wipe the paint off the raised areas of the paper leaving it in the recessed areas. This will heighten the three-dimensional appearance of the paper, making it almost impossible to tell that it is not a real tin ceiling.

If you need a little inspiration to get you going, I recommend visiting mansions in Newport, R.I., such as Chateau Sur Mer or the Breakers. Closer to home, in Providence, is the historic Renaissance mansion, the Gov. Henry Lippitt House Museum, completed in 1865. It is located at 199 Hope St. and is open to the public. The walls and ceilings offer amazing examples of faux-finish painting that replicates marbles, wood grain.

Remember, it is only paint and can always be painted over. Be courageous and try something new to add some warmth, drama and excitement to your home, whether it is old or new.

You might just create a real conversation spot for your family and friends to enjoy.

On material, how about buying a roll of already primed canvas. You can practice your ideas in miniature on small primed canvases. Then, when ready, staple rolled out canvas on a wall, in the house or garage, wherever - possibly attached to 1 x 4's screwed into wall studs. When done, move the whole caboodle to the ceiling - that would be the only time you'd be doing all the neck craning, which can really be difficult (I know, I've matched plaid wallpaper on a ceiling, a long time ago.) As canvas comes in different widths you may have to do several lengths of it, based on ceiling dimensions.

If you want it to look good, Chai Tea, it's going to have to be painted directly onto the ceiling. This isn't something you can 'applique' onto your ceiling. It'll look, at best, amateurish.

and BBB, you've found another site that starts with blue. It simply doesn't come out looking right if you do it that way. Well, it looks ok to people who don't care what it looks like - but it simply doesn't look 'cloudy'.

ehBeth
ehBeth, I noticed that, too. It seems artists don't agree on how best to proceed. Using a glaze will help solve the problem because you can fiddle with it until it looks right to you.

BBB

BBB, this particular issue in home decorating is a real huge bugbear to me.

I hate to see/read of people starting off on projects that are heading into "before" instead of "after" territory.

Good cloudy looking ceilings are not a simple project. Seems like they should be, but they just aren't.

Plaid wallpaper on a ceiling!!!

Eh beth, thanks, I'm starting to see why I can only really do this directly to the ceiling.

Perhaps when I start my practice clouds, I'll realize I can do it looking up as well, or perhaps on my back, like Michaelanglo.

Anyway everybody, the house should be pretty much completed in a few weeks to a month. the 2 back rooms have been painted, and as soon as one of them is carpeted, I can get all my new furniture out of storage finally and keep it in there until the living rooms done.

I am SO excited.

Do y'all want to see pictures when it's done?