Painting Backdrops: Basic Clouds 2

I've gotten some feedback from the first backdrop practice I did a couple days ago.  The main comment being that the foreground clouds were two heavy, which I agree with completely.  This is why it's important to do practice before painting a backdrop.  So then, for this second time around, I keep the clouds a bit further away and coming out of the horizon.

 Starting out like last time, I painted blue on the top and added white to the blue as I worked down.  If you can do something twice in a row, then you've got the system down.  The only difference is that I used a larger brush (1.25" wide).

 Then, as before, I started adding clouds near the horizon line.  At first, if the clouds are too thick, just go back over with paint that matches the surrounding sky to subdue the heavy white.

 Leave a little bit of white near the top to define the upper reaches of the cloud.

 For distant clouds, leave some bue between the layers like so.

 Eventually I came to this point.  The only thing I have to add for clouds is a bit near the top to make it look like an oncoming cloud bank from far away.

At this point I also added land.  At first, you might be tempted to paint the horizon like the top photo, but don't.  Instead, try to get the horizon reasonably flat like the photo directly above.

Next post, I'll begin looking at trees, buildings, and water.

--James