Clouds

transparent watercolor in sketchbook; stormy sky just before sunset

I've never lived up in the sky before, but it feels like I do now. We have windows on two sides of our new apartment, facing north and west, and they look out on the nearly-flat northern part of the city and its suburbs, the airport to the west, and the foothills of the Laurentians in the far distance. That's the horizontal picture. But vertically, more than half of what we see outside our windows is sky.

2B pencil

One of the best features of living in a northern temperate zone (in my opinion!) is that the weather changes all the time. I've always lived in the northeast, so I thought I was used to the pattern, not only of the seasons, but the day-to-day weather, what the clouds mean, how the air feels, the visual and tactile sense of whether it's going to get colder or warmer, drier or more humid, whether precipitation is coming or not. But I realize I had no idea of just how much change there was in the sky, the clouds, the sunrises and sunsets, and the rapidity of change during a few minutes, let alone a whole day. It's completely fascinating.

 

medium-point fountain pen

fine-point fountain pen; fleeting early morning clouds

So I've been drawing the clouds, or starting to. I'm finding that they present particular challenges if one is trying to capture the essence of a certain sky, partly because of the constant movement and morphing of their shape and form, and partly because it's not easy to draw something that is white, on white paper: unless you indicate the sky itself in some way, all you can do is draw the sunlit edges of the clouds, the shadow sides, and their basic forms, and suggest their movement through the type of strokes you use.

HB and 2H pencil

Suggesting a summer sky isn't difficult, but studying and drawing a particular cloud or cloud formation -- getting at its identity and essence -- seems to be quite a bit more challenging. All cumulus clouds are not alike! An early-morning mackerel sky, or an ethereal formation of mare's tails, give way in minutes to other forms. Likewise, painting a sky in oil or pastel or acrylic is much easier than drawing: like a photograph, you're freezing it in time, maybe even with photos for reference, and you've got the whole range of colors at your disposal.

white charcoal pencil on toned paper

Watercolor also represents a distinct challenge. Doing a realistic painting is more similar to what I just described about painting in other media, but doing a fast sketch is really tricky, and I feel like I'm just beginning to get my feet wet. These are all early experiments from my sketchbook, between July 3 and July 29, 2022.

transparent watercolor

My final comment on this post, after a month of observation, is that we can actually see how the weather is becoming much more extreme and violent. It's been really windy, not just up high, but on the ground as well, and the pace of mostly west-to-east movement of the clouds is fast. Ominous, huge, dark grey clouds appear, usually in the west, with storms developing rapidly, and we can see them in the distance; sheets of rain falling on distant parts of the city or landscape. When thunderstorms are actually upon us, the rain lashes the windows with real force. Last Saturday there was a classic anvil cloud in the northwest that was truly apocalyptic in appearance; I'd never seen a cloud like that. That evening a home in that area was hit by lightening -- the neighbors saw an actual fireball fall from the sky and hit the roof. Another afternoon, I watched a dark funnel starting to form below a large thunderhead in the far distance and called my husband to come and look; as we watched over maybe ten minutes, it was slowly absorbed back up into the cloud, and never stretched down to the land - but it was the first time I'd ever seen that, too. Tornadoes are not a usual occurrence in Quebec, in spite of the flatness of the St. Lawrence valley, but a tornado did touch down that same evening about a hundred kilometers northwest of Montreal. 

Drawing and painting the beauty of skyscapes is one thing, but I didn't expect to have a ringside seat for extreme weather. We are not suffering from the same heat levels as Europe or India or the American southwest, but our weather is definitely changing. How can anyone deny the absolute necessity of action?

transparent watercolor with touches of gouache for the city lights

Comments

[Kathy Hughes]

Beth..you have such a wonderful new subject to observe and try to capture in your new setting! I have been enjoying your sketches and picture you sketching away to catch the ever changing patterns...it must be wonderful!! Don't think I would ever want to leave! Howard is sending an email to catch up and plan to touch base!
Best,
k

[Andrea Murphy]

Love seeing all your different methods, and imagining you contemplating the skies from your new abode. xo

[am]

Your eye is tuned to beauty. Thoroughly enjoyed seeing these cloud drawings and paintings from your new home.

[Marly Youmans]

Glad to see that moving has not stopped your eye or slowed your hand... Love the quick sketches and watercolors...

And made me wander back to Steve Cieslawski's skyscapes, done in oils. You might find them interesting: http://www.stevecieslawski.com/2009-skyscapes.php#. (He did one of my book jackets, long ago.)

[Rachel Barenblat]

Your images are gorgeous, as ever, Beth.

And the words that accompany them, sobering. But here we are.

I've been thinking a lot lately about overwhelm and exhaustion. How much of what I'm feeling is due to my own body (heart attack recovery) and how much is due to the world being Too Much and how much is due to existential anxiety about climate? Trying to be gentle with myself, but it's hard to shake being afraid.

[Beth]

Dear Rachel,

Thank you so much for writing and responding to my last post...a lot of changes for us this summer, and big ones for you too. I agree with you about overwhelm and exhaustion; there have been times when I didnt feel like I knew how to keep going, but knew I had to, in order to take care of my father. Your situation was way more personal and immediate and frightening -- you described so well what it was like to pray while hooked up to drips and meds in the hospital; these arent situations one can anticipate.

Your heart attack happened while I was distracted with Dads crisis, and I guess I missed the original post (which Ive read now) -- because I would have written to you, and Im very sorry that it happened and that I didnt respond. Im glad you recognized what was happening and got help, but it must have been extremely scary. Everyone says that the months following a heart attack are psychologically difficult, with relief mixed with a new sense of vulnerability and uncertainty. To have personal stuff overlaid on the world situation does feel like a major overload, and all I can say is that I hear you and I understand those feelings. My own anxiety level has been the highest I remember; getting somewhat better now that Dad is in a permanent living situation with good care, but were so far away and I dont have any siblings to help out; he thinks we should just bring him to live with us and cant understand why thats impossible. Its difficult, and I worry about the effect this is all having on my own health -- plus moving, on top of that.

So many people, including some of our (yours and my) mutual friends, seem to be able to compartmentalize the world and their own lives a lot more effectively than I can, or I suspect you can. You have a young son whos going to be alive fifty, seventy-five years from now; I have young friends who I care about deeply -- and while we cant protect them from the cascading problems, my hope is that we can help them be strong, resourceful human beings who have inner lives that help sustain them. And I still hope that what were living through is a pendulum swing to the right, politically at least, which will eventually swing back when people discover how bankrupt those policies are. But day-to-day life feels so changed from even three years ago, and unless I totally put my head in the sand, its impossible not to acknowledge what is happening, the fear thats making people everywhere do desperate things, and the lack of significant action on so many fronts.

I just wanted to reach out to say hello, that I share much of what youre expressing, and that Im glad to talk. Please take good care of yourself and do the things that give you solace and sustenance, and dont forget your old friends who care about you.

love,

Beth

[Edwrd Yankie]

Absolutely LOVE the watercolour paintings of the clouds. It's so cool to see the same view with different light and clouds and essentially different everything. I forget which artist said that the eye is like any other muscle--it must be exercised. That's what these paintings do. I think you should do over a thousand of them. I am also of the belief that having a lot of sky out your window is important and makes a huge difference in life. Clouds in the sky are a work of art to begin with. And your capturing them with your exuberant eye and paintbrush is something I look forward to seeing more of.