Clear skies add little interest to a picture. That’s why landscape artists love clouds.
Hokusai scatters them around mount Fuji in his close-ups of the holy summit.
17th century Dutch landscape painter Ruysdael happily fills more than half of the canvas with them.
Ruysdael, View of Haarlem with Bleaching Grounds, 1665, Kunsthalle Zürich
And Georgia O’Keeffe turns it all around and positions us, the viewers, above the clouds, creating inverted cloudscapes.
Sky Above Clouds III, Georgia O’Keeffe, 1963
Today, take your inspiration from these and other artists to capture landscapes with clouds.
Look at landscape art and pay particular attention to the clouds. How much of the frame do they occupy? How essential are they to the success of the picture?
Then go cloud hunting - and use them to add rhythm, balance or interest to your landscapes.
Share your cloudscapes on Twitter or Instagram, using the hashtag #kramerseye.