I loved Ron Ranson On Skies (1996, Studio Vista), a book that mixes careful observation and teaching about cloud and sky natural history with practical painting techniques. Let’s see what colors Ranson used to paint skies!
Technique Tips
Before I get to colors, let’s talk technique.
Ranson had a big, impressionistic, fast-and-loose style that works extremely well with skies. Yet, even as a loose painter, Ranson places high importance on careful observation and factual knowledge of the natural world around you to inform your paintings. Perhaps this shouldn’t be surprising from a former scientist who began painting a second career in his 50s. Art-informed-by-science is a philosophy that I also clearly subscribe to, with my insistence that post on moon science belong on an art blog.
Ranson spends a lot of time talking about physical technique: using big strokes with the whole arm, putting down strokes confidently and not tinkering. A revelation for me was seeing how, in his examples, his wet-on-wet layers often look kinda bad when he stops painting and become good as they dry. Mine are the opposite, so I don’t know how he does it! I guess experience and the confidence to trust that wet paint will diffuse without your help.
Also inspiring: several of his paintings have visible backruns, which, he acknowledges, “could have been tidied; but then the spontaneity would have been completely spoiled.” I’ve always been taught to mop up backruns using a thirsty brush, but never really felt satisfied with the results, so I feel like this book is giving me the confidence to leave them alone.
Color Palette
In the book, Ranson explains that he typically teaches with just seven paints, his “old faithfuls,” but he introduces a few “new friends” as sky specialists. Ranson recommends working wet from the tube using Winsor & Newton Cotman, a student grade brand, specifically so that you will feel you can use a lot of paint and not be miserly. (He also uses student-grade paper: Bockingford!)
| Slot | RR Color (Cotman) |
|---|---|
| Middle Yellow | Cadmium Yellow Pale |
| Crimson | Alizarin Crimson |
| Violet-Blue | Ultramarine Blue |
| Dark Cyan (New) | Prussian Blue |
| Light Cyan (New) | Cerulean Blue Hue |
| Earth Yellow | Raw Sienna |
| Earth Orange (New) | Burnt Sienna |
| Earth Red | Light Red |
| Brown | Burnt Umber |
| Black | Payne’s Gray |
Palette Thoughts
I’m gonna acknowledge it: to me, this palette feels not only old-fashioned to me, but dark and lugubrious. So many earth tones! So few actual colors! In the old faithfuls version of the palette, Ultramarine Blue as an only blue??! How did he make green? Just with Payne’s Gray? How dark.
The sky palette’s dark, earthy quality makes it all the more surprising that many of the skies painted in the book have a bright and glowing feel. How does he do it??
Contrast, of course. This is the lesson I’ve continued to need hammered in again and again. The appearance of glowing comes from contrast and context, not inherently bright paints. Ranson’s delicate sky blues and warm yellow washes are made all the more luminous by their juxtaposition with heavy gray clouds and brown landscapes. Another contrast trick Ranson seems to use a lot is complementary colors, such as placing heavy mauve clouds against a light yellow sky or pale coral clouds against a gray-blue sky.
Specific Color Notes
I’ve given pigment numbers for Cotman’s current offerings, though they were likely different in 1996.
Cadmium Yellow
Cotman no longer offers Cadmium colors. The ‘cadmium-free’ colors are intended to be the closest equivalent. The closest would be Cadmium Yellow Pale Hue (PY175, PY65). Any middle yellow would work here. He doesn’t demonstrate its use much in the book, generally using Raw Sienna to make sky yellows instead.
Alizarin Crimson
The Alizarin Crimson that Ron Ranson used was almost certainly genuine PR83, which is typically no longer offered because it is fugitive. Until recently, Cotman’s Alizarin Crimson hue was made from PR206 (Brown Madder); now that that’s also discontinued, it is made from PR179 (Perylene Maroon).
Ranson uses Alizarin Crimson to mix orange (with yellow) and dark mauve clouds (with Payne’s Gray). Quin Rose was my initial choice of a replacement, but it mixes much brighter violets than do Alizarin Crimson hues, and dull violets are more useful for clouds. Inspired by Ranson, I gave my Da Vinci Alizarin Crimson Quinacridone (PV19) a shot in cloud mixes, and found it really nice for mixing deep mauve clouds, along with Ranson-like Payne’s Gray or Indigo, or with my own fave, Phthalo Turquoise (PB16).
Cerulean Blue Hue
Cotman’s Cerulean Blue hue is made from PB15, and to my eye, the book’s examples of ‘Cerulean’ do appear to use Phthalo Blue. This is notably used for exotically deep, jewel-like mediterranean skies. Phthalo Blue Green Shade is pretty intense, so using the student-grade Cerulean Hue, which is nerfed and mixed with white, can improve usability for skies. Personally, I tend to use Phthalo Blue Red Shade in this general slot.
Raw Sienna
As a rule, Ranson begins every sky painting with a light wash of Raw Sienna. His diluted Raw Sienna looks yellow, so this allows a bit of sunshine to peek through gaps in gray clouds, reflect on white clouds, or grade in at the horizon.
Cotman Raw Sienna appears to be a mix of Yellow Ochre and Transparent Red Oxide (PY42, PR101). When I tried to replicate this with my Da Vinci Raw Sienna (PBr7), I found it was far too orange, giving me “wildfire smoke” feel. (Sadly relevant, but not what I was going for.) For me, something like MANS, Yellow Ochre or Gold Ochre, or Naples Yellow Deep work better.
Burnt Sienna
Cotman’s Burnt Sienna is a PR101 Transparent Red Oxide. My Da Vinci Burnt Sienna Deep is a perfect substitute. Ranson uses this to mix grays (with Ultramarine Blue), drops it into landscapes, and adds orange tones to sunsets.
Light Red
From online color charts, Cotman Light Red appears to be redder than WN Professional Light Red (PR102). To my eye, it’s an earthy scarlet: not as orangey as Burnt Sienna/Transparent Red Oxide, but not as violet-brown as Indian Red. WN Venetian Red (PR101) looks like the closest equivalent in hue.
Ranson uses his earthy Light Red for its distinct warm pink undertone, which he uses to make pale cloud corals. He also mixes with Ultramarine for a shadowy mauve, or with Raw Sienna for warm burnt oranges. In a brighter palette, I would probably do most of these with the brighter Quin Red (PR209), but it’s also fun to play around with using diluted earth colors for this!
Burnt Umber
Ranson seems to use this mostly to mix gray: neutral grays with Ultramarine Blue, or warm grays with Payne’s Gray or Prussian Blue. I typically do this with Transparent Red Oxide or another Burnt Sienna equivalent.
Payne’s Gray
Ron’s favorite Payne’s Gray mixes include mauve (90% PG, 10% Alizarin Crimson), and green (PG + yellow). This makes me suspect he is using a Payne’s Gray heavy on Phthalo Blue. Indigo would probably be a better substitute than a very gray-toned Payne’s Gray.
Conclusion
I enjoyed reading this book a lot: I learned some stuff about clouds, picked up some tips, and most importantly, got inspired. However, I have to say that the palette was not my favorite and I will not be using anything like it! I have no interest in sticking to browns and blues, as Ranson does, and even though he does a surprising lot with them, I’ll be taking my pinks and scarlets and violets, thank you very much!