In this post I’ll show you how to draw clouds with pen and ink in 5 different ways as well as go over a few cloud drawing styles so you can switch up techniques in an instant, while learning some practical and time-saving techniques to make your drawings look awesome, detailed, and professional. This tutorial is great for all skill levels!
CONTENTS
- How to Draw Clouds with Pen and Ink
- How to Draw Cloud Outline
- Shade Clouds with Pen and Ink
- How to Draw Cloud Silhouettes
- Pen Sketching Clouds with Only Lines
- Drawing Detailed Clouds Using Circles
- How to Color in Clouds with Marker and Ink
- Different Ways to Draw Clouds and Cloud Drawing Styles
Let’s get started with drawing some really easy clouds using pen and ink!
How to Draw Clouds with Pen and Ink
Learning how to draw clouds with pen and ink is quite easy once you learn a few basic techniques, even if it seems intimidating at first.
Using pens or any permanent drawing medium can seem daunting at first but with enough practice, you’ll definitely become better.
How to Draw a Cloud Outline
Drawing a cloud outline is very easy. If you feel uncomfortable or that you may make too many mistakes using ink, you can draw a cloud in pencil first.
Just make some poofy half-circles on the top of your cloud sketch while drawing the bottom of the cloud with more thinned-out circles. This gives the cloud a feeling of a flatter bottom and more realistic.
Now that the cloud sketch is complete, we can draw over it using pen / ink.
Just trace over the pencil outline in black ink.
Continue tracing over the entire pencil line until the entire cloud is outlined in black.
And you’re done!
You can use this cloud outline as a doodle drawing for your planner, journal, or sketchbook or you can take it even further by coloring it in!
How to Shade Clouds with Lines Using Pen & Ink
Now that we know how to draw a cloud outline, let’s get into shading clouds with pens and ink.
1. Sketch a Section on the Inside of the Cloud
This is where our shadows will go. It also makes drawing in shadows cleaner and easier. Follow the form of the cloud.
Basically, just mimic the same line on the outline, only inside.
2. Shade in the Smaller Section Using Lines
Once you have your shadow section drawn out, just fill it in using ink lines.
Use short and quick vertical pen strokes to shade your cloud from side to side.
You can even add a couple small pen marks to show different sections of the cloud or accentuate it’s form. And we’re done with shading a cloud using ink!
How to Draw Silhouettes of Clouds
Now that we have a general idea of how to draw clouds with pen and ink, let’s try drawing cloud silhouettes.
1. Sketch a Circle
This will be the center of our cloud and the biggest shape, so be sure to make it good sized- we’ll add details around it in a bit.
2. Fill in the Circle
Super simple – just color in the circle outline with more pen or ink.
3. Make Smaller Cloud and Circle Shapes Around The First Circle
To continue with our cloud silhouette, all we need to do is just build on top of our circle shape from step #2.
Starting from our center circle, slowly draw out more circles and cloud shapes from it, making smaller shapes the further away you get from the center. This will make our cloud feel more realistic because clouds are formations of multiple smaller clouds.
The finished silhouette should look like something up above, in #3.You can even add a few smaller cloud silhouettes to help give a sense of scale.
Quick Note: To make drawing cloud silhouettes easier, use a thick marker tip or chisel tip to get big areas of solid color instead of using a ballpoint pen. It just looks so much better!
How to Draw Detailed Clouds with Curved Lines & Layering
Now let’s get into sketching more detailed clouds but still keeping it very easy.
This drawing tutorial shows how to draw clouds with pen and ink using only curved lines – let’s get into it!
1. Sketch Short Curved Lines with Varying Heights
This will be our cloud’s middle layer. Taper the lines from one side to the other. This gives the doodle dimension, shape, and volume.
2. Draw Another Layer of Curved Lines Beneath the 1st Layer
Do the same thing in step #1 but directly beneath the layer we just drew, making the cloud more voluminous.
3. Sketch 1 Small Layer of Lines On Top
To finish off this whimsical cloud art, top it off with a shorter layer of lines. Make it more curved on top to really sell the idea that this is a cloud and we’re finished!
Drawing Detailed Clouds with Circles /Spirals
Let’s try learning how to draw clouds with pen and ink using circles and spirals this time.
1. Sketch a Circle Using Multiple Circular Repetitions with the Pen
2. Add Smaller Circles to Each Side
3. Draw More Smaller Circles Under the Top Layer
4. Continue Adding Small Circles to the Cloud’s Ends
5. Add Smaller Clouds Using the Same Technique
Use Marker Ink & Pen to Color In Clouds
Now that we really know how to draw clouds with pen and ink, let’s color them in, pro-style.
1. Draw Some Cloud Outlines
They can be any shape of cloud you’d like : poofy, flat, long, etc. Just make sure you’re only drawing the outline.
2. Shade It Using Ink or Markers
Just color in your clouds, making sure to leave a bit of white space for highlights and you’re done!
Different Ways to Draw Clouds & Cloud Drawing Styles
There are so many different ways to draw clouds and cloud drawing styles. Here’s a look at some of the many ways you can draw clouds using only pen and ink!
- With Vertical Ink Lines
- Spirals
- Curved Pen Lines
- Voluminous and Poofy
- Using Negative Space
- Curved Clouds
For more real life inspiration and ideas on different ways to draw clouds, check out this article by Melani Pelan from Owlcation that shows the many different types of clouds (with pictures).
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Learning how to draw clouds with pen and ink is super easy despite being permanent mediums. It just takes a little bit of practice.
See you in the next post!
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