How to Paint Clouds in Watercolor: Soft Skies Without Streaks

You can't fight physics, you need wet paper for soft clouds.

Step 1: Paper Matters

You cannot paint soft clouds on cheap cellulose paper. Dries too fast, absorbs water unevenly, creates streaks regardless of how careful you are.

Soft, streak-free skies require 100% cotton paper. Cotton stays workable longer. That extra thirty seconds is the difference between a smooth gradient and a banded mess.

The watercolor kit includes cotton paper specifically for this reason. Smooth washes. Clean lifts. Actual control over how your sky dries.

If you've been fighting your paper, that's probably the issue right there.

Step 2: Frame the Sky

Don't guess how much sky to include. Decide before you start.

Use a viewcatcher to frame your composition. Is this painting 80% sky with dramatic clouds filling the frame? Or 20% sky as a supporting background for a landscape?

Big sky equals drama. Small sky equals supporting role.

Choosing this ahead of time avoids the worst composition trap: putting the horizon dead center and splitting the painting in half. Boring.

Frame it. Commit. Then paint with intention instead of guessing your way through.

Method 1: The "Thirsty Brush" (Lifting)

Best for soft, fluffy cumulus clouds.

Step 3: Lay the Wash

Paint a solid blue gradient across the entire sky area. Use a large brush, flat or big round, doesn't matter as long as it covers ground fast.

Start with richer blue at the top. Fade it lighter as you move toward the horizon. Real skies work this way, deeper overhead, paler near the earth.

This smooth gradient is the foundation. Streaky now means streaky clouds later. Give this step enough time. Get the wash even before you move forward.

One clean wash before any cloud detail, that's how to paint sky in watercolor properly.

Step 4: Dry the Brush

Rinse a round brush. Dry it on a towel until it's damp. Not dripping. Not bone dry. Somewhere in between.

This is your "thirsty brush." It drinks up pigment instead of adding more.

Synthetic brushes work especially well here. They're springy enough to lift cleanly without shredding the paper surface. Natural hair works too, but synthetic holds its shape better when you're scrubbing lightly.

Step 5: The Lift

While the blue wash is still properly wet, not just damp, actually wet, use your thirsty brush to lift cloud shapes.

Drag or dab the brush gently across the paper. Brush absorbs pigment, reveals white paper underneath.

Better lifts:

Rotate your brush. Repeating the same angle creates repetitive marks.

Change pressure. Light touch gives soft wisps. Firmer pressure creates more definition.

Don't scrub hard. Push too much and you'll damage paper, create hard halos instead of soft edges.

This is what most people picture when they ask how to paint clouds watercolor with that soft, fluffy look. Forgiving. Fast. Usually works.

Method 2: Negative Painting (Defining Shapes)

Best for bright, crisp-edged clouds with strong sunlight.

Step 6: Paint Around the White

Preserve white paper for the brightest highlights.

Sketch your cloud shapes lightly first if you need a guide. Paint the blue sky carefully around those shapes, keeping top edges clean and crisp where sunlight hits.

Negative painting. Not painting the cloud. Painting everything except the cloud.

Paint over white paper and you can't get that brightness back. Not without gouache, anyway. Protect those whites.

Step 7: Soften the Bottom

Clouds aren't evenly bright. Sharper on top where sunlight lands, softer underneath where they melt into shadow.

Immediately - while blue paint is still movable, grab a clean, damp brush and blur the bottom cloud edges into the sky.

Gives the cloud volume. Top edge stays sharp and bright. Bottom edge melts into softer shadow and atmosphere.

That contrast between preserved white and the blurred bottom is what makes clouds feel three-dimensional instead of flat cutouts.

Method 3: Wet-on-Wet (Stormy & Moody)

Best for dramatic skies. How to paint sky in watercolor when you want mood and movement.

Step 8: Pre-wet the Paper

Soak the entire sky area with clean water until it glistens. Not puddling. Just a consistent shine across the whole surface.

Angle your board slightly to even things out. You want the paper wet enough for pigment to bloom and spread, but not so soaked that paint slides off the edge.

Get the timing right here.

Step 9: Drop in the Grey

Mix a "Storm Grey" from your watercolor kit. Ultramarine with Burnt Sienna works, cool blue plus warm brown neutralizes into atmospheric grey.

Drop this mix into the wet paper. Don't brush it around. Just drop it in and watch it spread on its own.

Add slightly bluer greys higher up in the sky. Add warmer or darker greys lower down or in the underbelly of clouds.

The water does the work. Your job is to place the color and then leave it alone.

Step 10: Gravity is Your Friend

Tilt the board. Let the grey drift and merge across the wet surface.

Watch shapes form, split, reconnect. Let interesting edges happen without micromanaging them.

Critical rule: do not keep poking at it with your brush once the paint is flowing. That's how you get mud. That's how you get blooms. That's how you ruin a sky that was working perfectly fine two seconds ago.

Let it dry. Don't touch it. Walk away if that helps.

Storm fronts, dusk skies, dramatic backgrounds, this is the method.

Troubleshooting: No More Streaks

Common problems. Practical fixes.

The Cauliflower Effect (Blooms)

Weird, hard-edged splotches that look like little flowers erupting in your wash.

Cause: Added water to an area already starting to dry. New water pushes pigment outward, creates a bloom.

Fix: Stop touching it. Let it dry. Either keep the bloom (sometimes they look interesting) or re-wet the entire sky and repaint in one go.

Hard Lines

Sharp, unwanted edges cutting across your sky.

Cause: Paper dried too quickly, or you didn't overlap brushstrokes while everything was still wet.

Fix options:

Gently re-wet with a clean, damp brush and soften the edge.

Or embrace it. Not every sky needs to be perfectly smooth.

Other quick fixes:

Banding in gradients: Brush was too small or you worked too slowly. Bigger brush, faster work next time.

Wash drying in stripes: Paper dried unevenly, likely cellulose instead of cotton.