Instructions for Painting Picture Perfect Clouds on Walls & Ceilings
An article by Dawn Hall

Whether you are adding personality to bland walls in your little one’s nursery or looking for the perfect background for a wall mural, you can’t go wrong with clouds.

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Picture big, fluffy clouds – the kind you see on warm summer days. You (yes you!) can paint them! Just follow these simple step by step instructions.

First, take a trip to your local hardware store.

You will need to select paint to use as the background for the clouds. Choose a blue paint that not only looks great with your décor, but also makes you think of the sky on a clear summer day. The background paint should be a low-gloss paint, such as an eggshell or satin finish.

You will also need to purchase some other items - one gallon glaze, one quart white semi-gloss paint, and a sea sponge. Also pick up the following items if you don’t already have them laying around at home - a paint stirrer stick and plastic bucket to mix the glaze and paint together, a paintbrush to add the glaze mixture to the sponge, a couple clean rags to blot the sponge to remove excess paint, and cheesecloth to soften the clouds after you paint them.

After you get everything home, it’s time to paint! First, paint the walls with your blue background paint. If needed, add a second coat. The background paint must be completely dry prior to painting the clouds, so make sure you give it a full day and night to dry before moving on to the next step.

After the background is completely dry, it’s time to paint the clouds. Here’s how:

Step One:

Mix together a gallon of glaze with a quart of white paint in a plastic bucket using the paint stick. The glaze mixture will have a tendency to separate, so keep the paint stick handy and stir the mixture as needed.

If you would like to use different quantities of paint and glaze, you can – just measure and mix four parts glaze with one part paint.

Step Two:

Lightly coat the sponge with the glaze mixture using a paintbrush. Dab off any excess paint on clean rags.

Step Three:

Twisting and turning the sponge as you work, blot the glaze mixture on the wall or ceiling in the shape of a cloud. It is helpful to have a few pictures of real clouds available to look at as you work.

For vertical walls, you may want to first blot the glaze mixture in a horizontal line, then build the top of the cloud on this base.

Step Four:

Remember, clouds are generally light and fluffy, so use the cheesecloth to further soften the cloud before the glaze mixture dries. Then use the sponge to dab additional glaze on the cloud to add even more texture.

Step Five:

Repeat steps two through five, adding more clouds. For the most realistic look, paint the clouds in a random pattern and vary their sizes.

Paint as many clouds as you want using this method. It’s tried, it’s true, it works, and anyone can do it!

Related Information: Clouds are the perfect background for children’s murals. Visit Wall Murals 1-2-3 to find out more about children's murals, including do it yourself tips for painting wall murals.

Author Information: This article is by Dawn Hall. Visit her website at Wall Murals 1-2-3 for additional articles and practical do it yourself advice for adding spark to your home with wall murals.

Publication is permitted as long as the resource information at the end of the article remains intact, and the links are live (clickable).

Useful Resources

Art on the web - www.easyart.com
More art on the web - www.artresources.com
Even more art to look at - www.fine-art.com
Surely there can't be any more - www.artseek.com

Innovative picture positioning idea - www.thepicturewallcompany.com

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