Introduction

The weather can serve as an effective storytelling tool. Whether it's to convey joy, anger, sadness, or loneliness, different weather conditions can have a different effect.

 

It can vary greatly, depending primarily on geographic location, time of year, and time of day. From these three ingredients we can have a million different outcomes.

 

When creating art the best results are achieved when we research the subject we wish to depict. Furthermore to draw the weather convincingly we need to gather ample reference, no matter what skill level we have as artists, which is what I did when creating this tutorial. Now, I hope to be able to show you 4 different types of weather, starting from sunny/partly cloudy, to stormy, to a cloudy afternoon, and lastly an almost clear night.

Sunny/partly cloudy

Let's say we already have created the scene we want to add weather to. For me it's this little grassy hill.

Firstly we will add the sky in a layer under the grass. That can be done easily when using the gradient tool that's built in Clip Studio Paint. It already has a default one for "blue sky".

Now on to the clouds. For this one I wanted a bunch of little cumulus clouds drifting across the sky. On the layer above the sky pick an off-white color and use a textured brush (or a combination of such brushes) to draw the clouds in the shape of cotton wads. (and be sure to look at reference while doing so!)

In a scene like this perspective is key. So in order to make it a little easier for myself I made a simple grid in a separate layer and turned it on and off whenever I needed it.

To add the shadows make a new layer and clip it to the cloud layer below. Pick a light blue color and draw the shadows with the same brush as before. And be mindful of where the light is coming from and where the shadows will form.

After that you can make a new clipped layer and and with a soft brush add a slightly darker shade of blue where you feel like it is needed.

And the clouds are done! Now to match the environment to the weather condition that we created. Make a new layer above your forground and clip it, and with a blue color picked from the sky with the eye-dropper tool draw in the shadows and set the layer to multiply. You can adjust the opacity as you see fit.

To add light to your environment pick a light yellow color and paint over the environment in a new clipped layer and set it to overlay. Again, you can adjust the opacity to your liking.

(And something to keep in mind: because of the way the clouds are scattered not every part of your foregroung is in light, and not every one is covered by shadow, so you have to shade and lighten accordingly)

To indicate distance you can pick the color of the sky closest to the horizon and paint lighty with a soft brush over that part of the scene on a new layer.

We are near the end of this one. To add some icing on the cake I picked a light yellow color and painted in some pollen with a spray brush on a new layer, and played with the opacity and blur options.

And that is it for for sunny! If you want to add a character in the scene just follow the same steps as when editing the foreground. You can also use correction layers and various effects to make your image pop.

A very nifty trick that you can use is to make a "Hue/Saturation/Luminocity" correction layer above all layers, and pull the "Saturation" slider all the way down. That will give your image only gray values. But turning this layer on and off you can easily check your values and whether your composition is readable, which is paramount when creating an image.

Stormy

To start make a light gray to dark gray gradient for the sky on a layer under the foreground. It should go darker the closer it gets to the horizon.

With a textured brush start drawing big chunky clouds on a new layer, using the gray hues from the gradient. Unlike in the previous example these clouds are big, dark and heavy, and by indicating mass you will achieve the best effect.

Work from big to small, using a big brush then going smaller to suggest feathering at the edges of the clouds.

Because the clouds are so big the scene will be practically entirely covered in shadow, with barely some light eminating from the sky.

To match the foreground to the weather make a new layer above it and clip it. Draw a gradient of gray tones and set it to multiply.

On a new layer, in the area closest to the horizon, pick a light gray and paint over lightly using a soft brush to indicate distance.

The Figure tool (U) in Clip Studio Paint has a category called Speed lines, and one of the sub tools is a Rain effect tool. By playing with its setting you can adjust the rain drop lenght, the color, the amount of scattering etc. to easily add rain drops without much work.

Let's add a lighting bolt. On a new layer you can draw one with the Pen tool (with opacity and size turned on) using a light blue color. On another new layer with a soft brush draw over the bolt with a saturated blue and set the layer to Add(Glow). You may need to duplicate that layer if you fell like the glow is not strong enough. On another new layer draw the light forming on the clouds from the lightning using a color picked from the bolt.

Now you can add a character and edit them using the steps explained above, add some effects and check your values real quick. The piece is done.

Cloudy afternoon

To begin, draw a gradient of blue and yellow on a layer under the foreground. While drawing I went back and forth with a soft brush so my sky looks like this.

On a new layer draw the clouds in big chunky shapes with a textured brush (or several). Start with a dark blue color.

On new clipped layers draw in the many warm hues that are characteristic for scenes during sunsets. While the sun sets, for every second that passes there's a new color combination , so this is a time to be creative! Still, it can be a little overwhelming with so many colors so having reference is big help.

To add a little more interest draw a few smaller clouds on a new layer, then add vibrant coloring in the same way that was shown above. Though, for the sake of having a coherent composition, these little clouds should not be as spectacular.

Usually there are strings of half formed clouds above the big ones colorful ones. Let's show that.

Now the foreground. Make a new layer above it and clip it, then paint in the shadows with a blue color and set that layer to multiply. Adjust the opacity to your liking.

To add lighting make a new layer and clip it as well, paint in the light using a light yellow and then set the layer to overlay. You can adjust the opacity to your liking.

I felt like this scene needed some pollen.

Now, I didn't draw the sun itself, but I can indicate its presence just behind the edge of the painting. Pick an orange color, then pick the gradient tool and set it to radial (circle shape) and draw with it on a new layer. Then set the layer to Add(Glow) and adjust the opacity.

Here you can add some additional warmth by making a new layer, filling it with orange and setting it to overlay at around 10% opacity.

And it's pretty much done! All that's left is to add a character and final adjustments.

Night

Start by making a dark blue gradient on a layer under the foreground.

On a new layer draw the moon.

Next draw a few small feathery clouds on a new layer.

Make a new layer and clip it. With a soft brush and a darker blue color paint in the shadows so that the only unpainted parts are the ones hit by the moon light.

Repeat this step with an even darker blue.

Repeast this step again with the darkest color from the sky layer.

Go back to the moon and make a layer under it. Pick a light gray color and paint a halo around the moon with a soft brush.

Make a new layer above the clouds and paint a soft circle with the soft brush using a saturated blue color. Then set the layer to Add(Glow) and duplicate it if you need to.

Add the stars by lightly dabbing the Spray brush. The biggest ones should be where the sky is the darkest, and the smallest ones where it is the lightest.

Now make a new layer above the foregroung and clip it. Paint a gradient using blue colors and set it to multiply.

I added some additional shading under the petals of the flowers.

On a new clipped layer paint in some light with a desaturated blue color and set the layer to color dodge.

Do the same but with a saturated blue and set the layer to Add(Glow) and lower the opacity.

The scene is now ready for your character, do a quick check of your values and all done!

Conclusion

Those were only a few examples of how you can use the weather to create a story without the need for words. Of course there is much and more you can do with it, I only covered the smallest fraction.

The weather helps a lot with visual storytelling. There're many ways you can get better at it, look outside and observe the changing weather yourself, gather reference, study other artists' techiques, and above all PRACTICE. The best part of making art is discovering new ways of making beautiful things yourself, so go on and create! And make sure to have fun while doing so :)