How to Paint a Lake with Stormy Sky | Inspired by the Great Lakes

Learn how to paint lake water and a stormy sky with acrylics in this painting tutorial. Artist Ashley Krieger is traveling and painting in all 50 U.S. states. Today she takes you to Pennsylvania to capture a sailboat in Erie, Pennsylvania.  I hope you learn a  lot and enjoy this video as she paints plein air. 

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In Pennsylvania we lost are trailer tire on our way to our first camp ground. The lug studs were completely sheared off so we couldn't put on our spare. We were close to our campground, so we chose to drive without a tire to our camp spot. The roads were horrible with pot holes, sharp turns, and tree branches hitting our trailer. The campground was difficult to navigate and we couldn't find a good camp spot. Meanwhile I'm just hoping the RV doesn't tip over in this, no running water, no electricity and thick with trees campground. We finally parked on a large patch of grass called a "parking lot." We unhooked our trailer there and went all over the nearby towns in search of the right lug nuts. It was after 5pm on a Saturday and so we had no luck. We decided to stay in a hotel for the night. The next day, Sunday, we had no luck.

A storm was coming and we worried about getting our trailer stuck in the muddy grass. We decided to hook up and move the trailer to a place with pavement. I was so worried the RV would tip over as we drove it again on these horrible roads, near ditches, as cars kept coming the other direction so we had to get closer to the ditch. I was on edge the entire time. 

We actually found a peaceful spot by a lake that we weren't suppose to park at and stayed for the night. The next morning I found a tic on one of our kids that was so tiny, you could barely see it. Fears of limes disease haunted me. We finally did get everything worked out and headed to Erie, Pennsylvania. We had a great stay as the storms passed by. In life, storms come and go, but the trick is to expect them and sail through them. 

You can find the videos for each state she has traveled to thus far here. 

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Learn to Paint Your Own Lake

You can find the acrylic art supplies use here. I also used metallic gold and silver Liquitex heavy body acrylic paints. Watch the tutorial to see what colors I used and when. 

Watch the Video Tutorial

How to Paint a Lake with Stormy Sky, Step by Step...

Step 1 - Paint a horizontal line about 3 inches from the bottom of your painting. Paint in about 1/4 of the bottom of your painting with silver paint. Let it dry. 

Step 2 - Paint sky with silver, blue, and white. Use a choppy brush stroke and don't over blend. Paint almost the rest of the canvas sky, but leave a gap of about 3 inches between the sky and the water. Use only white when painting this part of your painting. You don't need to clean your brush, some of the paint will still be on it and transfer to the white part. This will help you blend in the next step.

Step 3- Paint the land above the lake. This area is heavily forested so you will have layers and need to add texture to make it appear as trees. See video for color recommendation and how to layer.  

Step 4 - Paint the waves on the lake. The lake will be lighter closer to the trees. As you move forward add darker paint and lighter paint. Use the video to see the brush strokes I use to get the water texture.  

Step 5 - Paint the city. Make sure the trees are dry or your colors will blend. I use gold, white, bronze and purple. You can be detailed or impressionistic. The trick with cities is to make sure you have the basic shapes in the right location, and your good to go. 

Step 6 - Look back and see what your painting needs. Be creative and add your own personal touch. I painted in a sailboat, a few lights, and put more movement in my sky. 

Thank you for watching!

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