Learn how to use pastels to create skies filled with mood, atmosphere and drama.

Light, movement, a sense of space – the sky artist must capture all of these successfully.

Sandra Orme, renowned artist and teacher, shows you how to use pastels to create depth and drama in your stormclouds, rainfall, sunbeams and more. All the essential materials and techniques are clearly explained within, so you too can paint skies full of drama and atmosphere.

• Build your skills gradually through 6 increasingly challenging and enjoyable stage-by-stage projects
• Sandra's Sky Clinic offers a first aid course in how to identify and correct common problems
• Learn to create evocative moods and dramatic weather effects.

This book will teach beginners and beyond the confidence and skills to create convincing, stunning skyscapes, from rich, glowing sunsets to bright clouds on a fresh, blustery day.

This practical and inspiring book distils award-winning artist Sandra Orme's insights and experience into a complete course in the fundamentals of working with pastels. She explores those aspects of colour that are key to painting skies: how to retain vibrancy; how to avoid muddy colours through the use of 'bridging' colours; and how many pastels to use for the best effect.

Each of the stage-by-stage projects focuses upon a particular sky effect, and each main stage is shown both before and after blending for clarity. Her 'Sky clinic', which finishes the book, offers more specialist and technical help on some of the common problems readers might encounter.

Containing the all-important specifics on how to hold the pastel to make various marks, along with close-up pictures showing how the surface should look before you start to blend at each stage, this book assumes no prior knowledge – and contains information and insights of value to even the most confident artist.