\n
Interpreting Rain<\/h2>\n![\"Rain,](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Rain-scaled.jpg\")
<\/a>Rain<\/em>, 1889
Vincent Van Gogh
Oil on canvas, 73.3 \u00d7 92.4 cm | 28.9 x 36.4 in
Philadelphia Museum of Art<\/a><\/small>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n“How beautiful it is outside when everything is wet from the rain \u2013 before \u2013 in \u2013 and after the rain. I oughtn’t to let a single shower pass.”<\/em> – Vincent van Gogh (Letter to Theo, 1882)<\/ul>\nAll living beings need water to survive, so it\u2019s unsurprising that rain recurs in art history across cultures as a powerful symbol for our survival. Rainfall feeds the land to sustain us, yet also has the potential to wipe it away in one terrible storm. From the Biblical deluge wiping out all of humanity to start again, to romantic proclamations made in the rain by lovers, we see it as an opportunity for cleansing and new beginnings. <\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Art_Through_Symbols_Rain_Blog_Image-4.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nPathetic fallacy would have us believe rain is always an indicator of misery, besetting characters in times of misfortune. But for Ukiyo-e printmakers and the Impressionists, rain is a great equaliser that embodies the fleeting yet enduring passages of nature, rather than personifying the mood of the individual.<\/p>\n
The symbolism of rain shifts depending on the place, culture, and circumstances of the people it lands upon. People bracing against the rain with umbrellas suggest resilience and preparedness for the uncertainties of life, whereas the drenched figure garners our sympathy. The empty landscape beset by a storm reminds us to approach the natural world with wonder and to appreciate the phenomena that may seem unpleasant. In wet countries like the UK, it\u2019s easy to \u2018hate\u2019 the rain, whilst dry countries around the world need it desperately. This inherently shifts the symbolic meaning of rain, depending on scarcity. <\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Art_Through_Symbols_Rain_Blog_Image-17.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nNature\u2019s Endurance<\/h2>\n
Hiroshige was incredibly skilled at capturing rainfall in his landscape series of woodblock Ukiyo-e prints, applying vertical or slanted lines in a separate layer to each print. Ukiyo-e<\/em>, meaning \u2018pictures of the floating world,’ depicts scenes from everyday life, alongside the beauty of nature \u2013 often in fleeting moments such as a sudden downpour, the shift of the seasons, or the crashing of a wave. Rain, in particular, serves as an evocative device, sending people to seek shelter or hurry along their way through both natural landscapes and man-made environments. Wherever or whoever the people are, the unpredictability of the rain is an equaliser \u2013 and a reminder of the enduring forces of nature despite human intervention. <\/p>\nHiroshige\u2019s technique of adding a layer of rain on top of his prints is undeniably referenced in Rousseau\u2019s famous work Surprised!<\/a><\/em>, where a tiger bristles amid thick jungle foliage, with the rain cascading in transparent strokes. <\/p>\n![\"Sudden](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/DP122216-scaled.jpg\")
<\/a>Sudden Shower at Sh\u014dno<\/em>, from the series Fifty-three Stations of the T\u014dkaid\u014d<\/em>, 1834-35
Utagawa Hiroshige
Woodblock print on paper, 24.8 x 36.2 cm | 9.8 x 14.3 in
The Metropolitan Museum of Art<\/a><\/small>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nSocial Dynamics and Transience<\/h2>\n
In the late 19th century, Paris was undergoing a transformation. The rapid acceleration of industrialisation led to large areas of the city being rebuilt, and the gap between the bourgeoisie and the working class broadened. Gustave Caillebotte was both a key patron and artist of the Impressionist movement, although his paintings stylistically lean more towards realism. Paris Street; Rainy Day<\/em> is a monumental mise-en-sc\u00e8ne<\/em> painting, placing the viewer against the stage of the street with the foreground figures painted at life-sized scale. The asymmetrical perspectival composition creates a cityscape that we could easily step into, dashing alongside the wealthy of the city, sheltering from the rain under their umbrellas. <\/p>\n![\"Paris](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1964.336-Paris-Street-Rainy-Day-scaled.jpg\")
<\/a>Paris Street; Rainy Day<\/em>, 1877
Gustave Caillebotte
Oil on canvas, 212.2 \u00d7 276.2 cm | 83.5 x 108.7 in
Art Institute of Chicago<\/a><\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThis work precedes Seurat\u2019s Sunday on La Grande Jatte<\/a><\/em>, which famously also examines class dynamics and industrialisation in Paris. It also predates Renoir\u2019s The Umbrellas<\/a><\/em>, which he worked on in two stages in the 1880\u2019s. In it, we see a milliner\u2019s assistant carrying a hat basket break through the crowd, caught without an umbrella. She\u2019s adjacent to a wealthy woman and her richly dressed daughters, all adorned with fancy hats in contrast. The rain in both The Umbrellas<\/em> and Paris Street; Rainy Day<\/em> provided the perfect thematic situation for the Impressionists’ desire to capture transient moments in time. These artists also undoubtedly looked to Japanese artworks of rain for inspiration, like Hiroshige’s prints in the previous section.<\/p>\nHumour<\/h2>\n
The saying \u2018It\u2019s raining cats and dogs\u2019 didn\u2019t just fall from the sky. The etymology of the phrase hasn\u2019t been proven, but it\u2019s theorised that heavy rains would wash dead animals through the streets that had accumulated because of poor sanitation. Another idea suggests that because people kept domestic animals in their rafters, in areas with thatched roofs, the animals would be brought to the ground by the rain. It also may have derived from a bastardisation of the Greek word \u2018katadoupoi\u2019<\/em>, which refers to the waterfalls of the Nile. Regardless of its origin, the phrase has been a source of nonsensical good humour. The phrase is rich in imagery for satirists, giving levity to unpleasant conditions. <\/p>\n![\"Very](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ycba_09ee6180-88ba-43a0-8215-b64a50c542a3-scaled.jpg\")
<\/a>Very Unpleasant Weather, or, the Old Saying Verified “Raining Cats, Dogs, & Pitchforks.”!!!<\/em>, 1835
George Cruikshank
Hand coloured etching, 27.1 x 41.4 cm | 10.7 x 16.2 in
Yale Center for British Art<\/a><\/small>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nPunishment and Renewal<\/h2>\n
The word deluge derives from the Latin word diluere<\/em>, meaning \u2018to wash away\u2019. It describes a severe and deadly flood, often made in reference to the Great Flood in The Book of Genesis. Imagery of people struck by the horror of the deluge appears throughout art history as a potent visual warning of the consequences of Sin. The subject became especially popular with the Romantic artists of the 1800s, for its pictorial drama and potential for tragic figuration. In these artworks, rain is a symbol for punishment and the destruction of evil, scouring the entire population of Earth so that Noah and the inhabitants of his Ark could begin again. This particularly haunting example by Melchior Lorck sees a writhing mass of people scrambling up a structure to try to escape the deadly waters under the pelting rain. <\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1939.256-The-Deluge-scaled.jpg\")
<\/a>The Deluge<\/em>, after 1548
Melchior Lorck
Woodcut in two blocks, 32.4 \u00d7 50.2 cm | 12.8 x 19.8 in
Art Institute of Chicago<\/a><\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nRomance<\/h2>\n
Monsoon season in South Asia brings the majority of the rainfall that the region experiences for the year, which is crucial for agriculture, the ecosystem and subsequently the population\u2019s wellbeing. In Indian art, the monsoon was historically tied to romance, reflecting the lush renewal of the landscape during this season. Indian miniature paintings feature couples amongst the flora and fauna refreshed by water, or women on swings<\/a> set against gathering storm clouds in celebration of their arrival. This may seem unusual to the contemporary mind since we may associate the monsoon with danger. Global warming has steadily heightened the intensity and impact of the monsoon season, with greater risk to life because of landslides and flooding. These historical artworks endure as reminders that the monsoon was once a positive symbol of romance, love and rebirth – as well as of the detrimental effects of human-caused environmental decline.<\/p>\n![\"Royal](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1973.104_print-scaled.jpg\")
<\/a>Royal lovers watching rain clouds: The month of Bhadon<\/em>, from a Barahmasa<\/em>, c. 1790
Northern India, Pahari Kingdoms
Gum tempera, ink and gold on paper, 20.7 x 15.2 cm | 8.15 x 6 in
The Cleveland Museum of Art<\/a><\/small>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nPathetic Fallacy and Sadness<\/h2>\n
Pathetic fallacy<\/em>, meaning \u2018emotional falseness\u2019, is the attribution of human emotions to non-human nature and phenomena. It was coined by John Ruskin in 1856 in the third volume of his work Modern Painters<\/em>, to critique the sentimentality of the trope used by poets in the late 18th century. In Western art, rain has been attributed to sadness, as if the clouds themselves produce tears to mirror or emphasise a character’s mood.<\/p>\nWilliam Blake created this downtrodden figure for Water<\/em> as part of a series of 18 prints called For Children: The Gates of Paradise<\/em>. Unlike his most famed engravings, this series relies on imagery alone, rather than being supported by long text. The series charts a visionary progress from birth \u2013 being uprooted from the ground<\/a> like a vegetable \u2013 to death \u2013 walking alone through a dark doorway<\/a>. He personifies the four elements as characters. \u2018Water\u2019 is hunched over and cast by rain, using pathetic fallacy to reinforce his misery.<\/p>\n![\"Water](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Blake-Water-scaled.jpg\")
<\/a>Water (Plate 4)<\/em>, 1793
William Blake
Etching, 8.3 x 7.3 cm | 3.3 x 2.9 in
Yale Center for British Art<\/a><\/small>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWonder<\/h2>\n
It\u2019s impossible to write about rain without mentioning the great Romantic artists who strove to capture stormy skies by working in the landscape \u2013 JMW Turner and John Constable. Both artists were determined to transform the genre with grit, making them direct rivals who clashed on both artistic and personal matters. Amongst the tension, both made incredible paintings of the rain, which convey a sense of wonder and terror in nature. <\/p>\n
Rainstorm Over the Sea<\/a><\/em> by Constable has a dramatic sky of expressive swipes, painted in Brighton, which he visited over several years. Turner also sought to capture the rain en plein air in his work A Paddle-Steamer in a Storm on Lake Lucerne<\/em>. This light watercolour doesn\u2019t rely on dark tone to convey the ferocity of the weather, but shows us the context of a steamboat approaching the downpour. A single bolt of lightning jumps from the rain clouds, created in one scratch to reveal the white of the paper, to ingeniously suggest violence. <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ycba_6c8db163-6632-40d1-b695-de4a28b65160-scaled.jpg\")
<\/a>A Paddle-Steamer in a Storm on Lake Lucerne<\/em>, c. 1841
J.M.W. Turner
Watercolour, graphite, and scratching on paper, 23.2 x 28.9 cm | 9.1 x 11.4 in
Yale Center for British Art<\/a><\/small>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nRain – Art Prompt<\/h2>\n
For this art prompt, I was inspired by the expressive paintwork in Constable\u2019s Rainstorm Over the Sea<\/a><\/em>, combined with the devastating drama of the deluge. We will paint a stormy sky, complete with lashings of rain. <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Art_Through_Symbols_Rain_Blog_Image-20.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nFor this art prompt, you\u2019ll need: <\/p>\n
Michael Harding Oil Paints<\/a> in Turners Yellow<\/a>, Madder Brown<\/a>, Raw Sienna<\/a>, and Manganese Violet<\/a>, and Jackson\u2019s Professional Oil Paints<\/a> in Zinc White<\/a>, Indigo<\/a>, and Ivory Black<\/a>. <\/p>\nJackson’s Cotton Canvas Art Board 14 x 18 in<\/a><\/p>\nJackson\u2019s Hog Bristle Brushes<\/a> and Roman Szmal Palette Knives<\/a><\/p>\nA glass palette<\/a><\/p>\nA jar to put your medium in – for mediums I used Jackson\u2019s English Distilled Turpentine<\/a> and Jackson\u2019s Refined Linseed Oil<\/a><\/p>\nA rag to wipe your palette knives as you work<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Art_Through_Symbols_Rain_Blog_Image-12.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nTo begin my work I made a light underpainting with thinned Raw Sienna and Madder Brown to establish the composition and size of the forms in my cloudscape. This warm underpainting created visual contrast with the cool blues applied on top. <\/p>\n
![\"Rain](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Art_Through_Symbols_Rain_Blog_Image-1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nNext I mixed a tonal palette of blue-greys, ready to be scooped and scraped onto the surface with my palette knives at volume, to save remixing.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Art_Through_Symbols_Rain_Blog_Image-6.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nI painted with a combination of hog brushes and palette knives – alternating my tools depending on the desired thickness of paint. <\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Art_Through_Symbols_Rain_Blog_Image-5.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nI made the sky beyond thinner by using a brush, which balances out the thick impasto application of the clouds with palette knives. <\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Art_Through_Symbols_Rain_Blog_Image-9.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Art_Through_Symbols_Rain_Blog_Image-10.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nI wiped my palette knives clean between building up different colours, being careful to separate the sky from the land. <\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Art_Through_Symbols_Rain_Blog_Image-14.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nI added a mixture of Madder Brown, Indigo, Turners Yellow and Warm White to the landscape below the formidable cloud, and added a touch to the cloud itself to unify the overall palette of the painting.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Art_Through_Symbols_Rain_Blog_Image-15.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Art_Through_Symbols_Rain_Blog_Image-16.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nTo finish, I added some sgraffito scratches to the thick paintwork to emulate the rain pelting down, and to exaggerate the form of the clouds. <\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Art_Through_Symbols_Rain_Blog_Image-23.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n
\nFurther Reading<\/h2>\n
Recreating the Palette of J.M.W. Turner<\/a><\/p>\nArt Through Symbols: Snow<\/a><\/p>\nPainting and Printmaking Techniques of the Brotherhood of \u2018the Ancients\u2019<\/a><\/p>\nA Guide to Oil Painting Mediums<\/a><\/p>\n
<\/a>Vincent Van Gogh
Oil on canvas, 73.3 \u00d7 92.4 cm | 28.9 x 36.4 in
Philadelphia Museum of Art<\/a><\/small>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
- “How beautiful it is outside when everything is wet from the rain \u2013 before \u2013 in \u2013 and after the rain. I oughtn’t to let a single shower pass.”<\/em> – Vincent van Gogh (Letter to Theo, 1882)<\/ul>\n
All living beings need water to survive, so it\u2019s unsurprising that rain recurs in art history across cultures as a powerful symbol for our survival. Rainfall feeds the land to sustain us, yet also has the potential to wipe it away in one terrible storm. From the Biblical deluge wiping out all of humanity to start again, to romantic proclamations made in the rain by lovers, we see it as an opportunity for cleansing and new beginnings. <\/p>\n
Pathetic fallacy would have us believe rain is always an indicator of misery, besetting characters in times of misfortune. But for Ukiyo-e printmakers and the Impressionists, rain is a great equaliser that embodies the fleeting yet enduring passages of nature, rather than personifying the mood of the individual.<\/p>\n The symbolism of rain shifts depending on the place, culture, and circumstances of the people it lands upon. People bracing against the rain with umbrellas suggest resilience and preparedness for the uncertainties of life, whereas the drenched figure garners our sympathy. The empty landscape beset by a storm reminds us to approach the natural world with wonder and to appreciate the phenomena that may seem unpleasant. In wet countries like the UK, it\u2019s easy to \u2018hate\u2019 the rain, whilst dry countries around the world need it desperately. This inherently shifts the symbolic meaning of rain, depending on scarcity. <\/p>\n Hiroshige was incredibly skilled at capturing rainfall in his landscape series of woodblock Ukiyo-e prints, applying vertical or slanted lines in a separate layer to each print. Ukiyo-e<\/em>, meaning \u2018pictures of the floating world,’ depicts scenes from everyday life, alongside the beauty of nature \u2013 often in fleeting moments such as a sudden downpour, the shift of the seasons, or the crashing of a wave. Rain, in particular, serves as an evocative device, sending people to seek shelter or hurry along their way through both natural landscapes and man-made environments. Wherever or whoever the people are, the unpredictability of the rain is an equaliser \u2013 and a reminder of the enduring forces of nature despite human intervention. <\/p>\n Hiroshige\u2019s technique of adding a layer of rain on top of his prints is undeniably referenced in Rousseau\u2019s famous work Surprised!<\/a><\/em>, where a tiger bristles amid thick jungle foliage, with the rain cascading in transparent strokes. <\/p>\n In the late 19th century, Paris was undergoing a transformation. The rapid acceleration of industrialisation led to large areas of the city being rebuilt, and the gap between the bourgeoisie and the working class broadened. Gustave Caillebotte was both a key patron and artist of the Impressionist movement, although his paintings stylistically lean more towards realism. Paris Street; Rainy Day<\/em> is a monumental mise-en-sc\u00e8ne<\/em> painting, placing the viewer against the stage of the street with the foreground figures painted at life-sized scale. The asymmetrical perspectival composition creates a cityscape that we could easily step into, dashing alongside the wealthy of the city, sheltering from the rain under their umbrellas. <\/p>\n This work precedes Seurat\u2019s Sunday on La Grande Jatte<\/a><\/em>, which famously also examines class dynamics and industrialisation in Paris. It also predates Renoir\u2019s The Umbrellas<\/a><\/em>, which he worked on in two stages in the 1880\u2019s. In it, we see a milliner\u2019s assistant carrying a hat basket break through the crowd, caught without an umbrella. She\u2019s adjacent to a wealthy woman and her richly dressed daughters, all adorned with fancy hats in contrast. The rain in both The Umbrellas<\/em> and Paris Street; Rainy Day<\/em> provided the perfect thematic situation for the Impressionists’ desire to capture transient moments in time. These artists also undoubtedly looked to Japanese artworks of rain for inspiration, like Hiroshige’s prints in the previous section.<\/p>\n The saying \u2018It\u2019s raining cats and dogs\u2019 didn\u2019t just fall from the sky. The etymology of the phrase hasn\u2019t been proven, but it\u2019s theorised that heavy rains would wash dead animals through the streets that had accumulated because of poor sanitation. Another idea suggests that because people kept domestic animals in their rafters, in areas with thatched roofs, the animals would be brought to the ground by the rain. It also may have derived from a bastardisation of the Greek word \u2018katadoupoi\u2019<\/em>, which refers to the waterfalls of the Nile. Regardless of its origin, the phrase has been a source of nonsensical good humour. The phrase is rich in imagery for satirists, giving levity to unpleasant conditions. <\/p>\n The word deluge derives from the Latin word diluere<\/em>, meaning \u2018to wash away\u2019. It describes a severe and deadly flood, often made in reference to the Great Flood in The Book of Genesis. Imagery of people struck by the horror of the deluge appears throughout art history as a potent visual warning of the consequences of Sin. The subject became especially popular with the Romantic artists of the 1800s, for its pictorial drama and potential for tragic figuration. In these artworks, rain is a symbol for punishment and the destruction of evil, scouring the entire population of Earth so that Noah and the inhabitants of his Ark could begin again. This particularly haunting example by Melchior Lorck sees a writhing mass of people scrambling up a structure to try to escape the deadly waters under the pelting rain. <\/p>\n Monsoon season in South Asia brings the majority of the rainfall that the region experiences for the year, which is crucial for agriculture, the ecosystem and subsequently the population\u2019s wellbeing. In Indian art, the monsoon was historically tied to romance, reflecting the lush renewal of the landscape during this season. Indian miniature paintings feature couples amongst the flora and fauna refreshed by water, or women on swings<\/a> set against gathering storm clouds in celebration of their arrival. This may seem unusual to the contemporary mind since we may associate the monsoon with danger. Global warming has steadily heightened the intensity and impact of the monsoon season, with greater risk to life because of landslides and flooding. These historical artworks endure as reminders that the monsoon was once a positive symbol of romance, love and rebirth – as well as of the detrimental effects of human-caused environmental decline.<\/p>\n Pathetic fallacy<\/em>, meaning \u2018emotional falseness\u2019, is the attribution of human emotions to non-human nature and phenomena. It was coined by John Ruskin in 1856 in the third volume of his work Modern Painters<\/em>, to critique the sentimentality of the trope used by poets in the late 18th century. In Western art, rain has been attributed to sadness, as if the clouds themselves produce tears to mirror or emphasise a character’s mood.<\/p>\n William Blake created this downtrodden figure for Water<\/em> as part of a series of 18 prints called For Children: The Gates of Paradise<\/em>. Unlike his most famed engravings, this series relies on imagery alone, rather than being supported by long text. The series charts a visionary progress from birth \u2013 being uprooted from the ground<\/a> like a vegetable \u2013 to death \u2013 walking alone through a dark doorway<\/a>. He personifies the four elements as characters. \u2018Water\u2019 is hunched over and cast by rain, using pathetic fallacy to reinforce his misery.<\/p>\n It\u2019s impossible to write about rain without mentioning the great Romantic artists who strove to capture stormy skies by working in the landscape \u2013 JMW Turner and John Constable. Both artists were determined to transform the genre with grit, making them direct rivals who clashed on both artistic and personal matters. Amongst the tension, both made incredible paintings of the rain, which convey a sense of wonder and terror in nature. <\/p>\n Rainstorm Over the Sea<\/a><\/em> by Constable has a dramatic sky of expressive swipes, painted in Brighton, which he visited over several years. Turner also sought to capture the rain en plein air in his work A Paddle-Steamer in a Storm on Lake Lucerne<\/em>. This light watercolour doesn\u2019t rely on dark tone to convey the ferocity of the weather, but shows us the context of a steamboat approaching the downpour. A single bolt of lightning jumps from the rain clouds, created in one scratch to reveal the white of the paper, to ingeniously suggest violence. <\/p>\n For this art prompt, I was inspired by the expressive paintwork in Constable\u2019s Rainstorm Over the Sea<\/a><\/em>, combined with the devastating drama of the deluge. We will paint a stormy sky, complete with lashings of rain. <\/p>\n For this art prompt, you\u2019ll need: <\/p>\n Michael Harding Oil Paints<\/a> in Turners Yellow<\/a>, Madder Brown<\/a>, Raw Sienna<\/a>, and Manganese Violet<\/a>, and Jackson\u2019s Professional Oil Paints<\/a> in Zinc White<\/a>, Indigo<\/a>, and Ivory Black<\/a>. <\/p>\n Jackson’s Cotton Canvas Art Board 14 x 18 in<\/a><\/p>\n Jackson\u2019s Hog Bristle Brushes<\/a> and Roman Szmal Palette Knives<\/a><\/p>\n A glass palette<\/a><\/p>\n A jar to put your medium in – for mediums I used Jackson\u2019s English Distilled Turpentine<\/a> and Jackson\u2019s Refined Linseed Oil<\/a><\/p>\n A rag to wipe your palette knives as you work<\/p>\n To begin my work I made a light underpainting with thinned Raw Sienna and Madder Brown to establish the composition and size of the forms in my cloudscape. This warm underpainting created visual contrast with the cool blues applied on top. <\/p>\n Next I mixed a tonal palette of blue-greys, ready to be scooped and scraped onto the surface with my palette knives at volume, to save remixing.<\/p>\n I painted with a combination of hog brushes and palette knives – alternating my tools depending on the desired thickness of paint. <\/p>\n I made the sky beyond thinner by using a brush, which balances out the thick impasto application of the clouds with palette knives. <\/p>\n I wiped my palette knives clean between building up different colours, being careful to separate the sky from the land. <\/p>\n I added a mixture of Madder Brown, Indigo, Turners Yellow and Warm White to the landscape below the formidable cloud, and added a touch to the cloud itself to unify the overall palette of the painting.<\/p>\n To finish, I added some sgraffito scratches to the thick paintwork to emulate the rain pelting down, and to exaggerate the form of the clouds. <\/p>\n Recreating the Palette of J.M.W. Turner<\/a><\/p>\n Art Through Symbols: Snow<\/a><\/p>\n Painting and Printmaking Techniques of the Brotherhood of \u2018the Ancients\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n A Guide to Oil Painting Mediums<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nNature\u2019s Endurance<\/h2>\n
<\/a>
Utagawa Hiroshige
Woodblock print on paper, 24.8 x 36.2 cm | 9.8 x 14.3 in
The Metropolitan Museum of Art<\/a><\/small>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nSocial Dynamics and Transience<\/h2>\n
<\/a>
Gustave Caillebotte
Oil on canvas, 212.2 \u00d7 276.2 cm | 83.5 x 108.7 in
Art Institute of Chicago<\/a><\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nHumour<\/h2>\n
<\/a>
George Cruikshank
Hand coloured etching, 27.1 x 41.4 cm | 10.7 x 16.2 in
Yale Center for British Art<\/a><\/small>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nPunishment and Renewal<\/h2>\n
<\/a>
Melchior Lorck
Woodcut in two blocks, 32.4 \u00d7 50.2 cm | 12.8 x 19.8 in
Art Institute of Chicago<\/a><\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nRomance<\/h2>\n
<\/a>
Northern India, Pahari Kingdoms
Gum tempera, ink and gold on paper, 20.7 x 15.2 cm | 8.15 x 6 in
The Cleveland Museum of Art<\/a><\/small>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nPathetic Fallacy and Sadness<\/h2>\n
<\/a>
William Blake
Etching, 8.3 x 7.3 cm | 3.3 x 2.9 in
Yale Center for British Art<\/a><\/small>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWonder<\/h2>\n
<\/a>
J.M.W. Turner
Watercolour, graphite, and scratching on paper, 23.2 x 28.9 cm | 9.1 x 11.4 in
Yale Center for British Art<\/a><\/small>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nRain – Art Prompt<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\nFurther Reading<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Blog_Banner_Art_Symbols_Series.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"