How To Draw Air
Drafting a scene of the sky without air is impossible. Just imagine – empty azure nothingness. Eerie. To bring to life a fluffy white clouds, a flickering sun, a vibrant sky requires some magic and air. Here is how to draw air correctly in your art.
Firstly, we need to define air. Air is an invisible gas – a facet of nature that fills our atmosphere, its shades of blue, and the creation of clouds. Air is our daily companion, constantly around us, and not one of us can miss its presence.
The next step is to visualize air in our art. For example, take short and swift strokes that rise and fall as if mimicking the wind currents. In a painting of a seascape, one can depict its tossing waves with cursive lines that imitate the rolling ocean. Let the curves convey the movement of the sea and bring to life the cool breeze that often accompanies it. For a landscape painting, curling strokes can denote fresh air coming from a nearby mountain range.
While the aforementioned techniques capture air visually, we literally need to draw air in regards to clouds. Fortunately, clouds are simple to render in art. In one’s piece, they would appear as fluffy, almost-blobby shapes of various sizes with highlights, half-tones and shadows. Inside clouds, lines can be used to suggest cirrus or altocumulus. To bring your art scene to life, create a couple of scattered clouds and place them near the horizon of your painting – as if Mother Nature has strewn her twinkles across the sky.
However, it is hard to think about air and not imagine a hot summer day. To ignite the glowing blaze of heat, try outlining areas of sunlight with a few strokes of yellow and orange. The summer sun’s glow can often be depicted in art with a few bold-edged sunrays, with lighter lines surrounding them. That inner halo should not stretch too far in the painting; instead, it is best to reserve it to convey the source of heat, with the radiating lines spilling off to the left and right.
Finally, let’s consider the kind of air we’re dealing with. Rolling fields of grass may require an afternoon’s gust of wind with a few lines shooting off in random directions. In a forest setting, the air is heavier with vibes of moistness. To capture it properly, draw the shadows and shadows of shadows, with no hard outlines so that the trees feel grounded and the air looks alive. To establish a calming summer evening ambiance, include soft rays of moonlight streaking across the sky. And for a fantasy drawing, imagine a mystical atmosphere full of sparkling particles to signify the air’s special presence.
