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A quick sky study as my time was taken sewing on blasted ballet ribbons for ballet exams today

After a night of ballet-shoe chaos and a sore hand, I still managed to squeeze in a 30-minute sky study — proof that sometimes you just have to...

The Ballet Ribbon Saga - i HATE ballet ribbons.

Last night I had about 30 minutes to paint — total.
My big girl had ballet exams today, (actually both my kids had exams today but only one new pair or ribbon shoes, ) and the night before she was whinging that her feet hurt in her shoes.
Turns out she needed two whole sizes bigger… whoops. I MADE her squeeze into them last Eisteddford.. lol

So instead of painting, I spent an hour sewing ribbons on the new ones.
For anyone who knows me, hand sewing is not my strong suit — especially with the nerve damage in my hand. I USED to sew all the time... not so much now i can't use sizzors...

Four tiny ribbons and i was swearing.. lol.

there is a lady att he studio who does it for $20 bucks, and while that is a huge amount... i might consider it as i hate the job sooooo mcuh.

Anyway, job done, child happy, and I figured I could still sneak in a quick skyscape before bed.
The things we do for our kids!

At this point I’m thinking I’d better start selling a few paintings to pay for all these shoes... 😂

Anyway this is where 30 mins got me... so this is where it stays.

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Finding the Sky Reference

When I’m under the pump for time or fresh ideas, I often turn to MidJourney for a spark of inspiration.

now yes... i photograph the skies like most nights... but sometimes i don't.. and sometimes... hey... i like mijourney... lol

I tell myself I have five minutes, tops, to find something that makes me want to paint — otherwise I’d spend a hundred hours scrolling.

This was the prompt I used:

acrylic painting, daily painting, sunset sky going from orange to a blue at the top with deep dramatic grey/mauve clouds --s 50 --raw --v 7.0

I refreshed it five times, picked the best idea, and then got started.
At the end of the day I always change the image anyway — it’s just to get the creative spark going.

Note: The images below are computer-generated references and not my paintings.
They’re just concept ideas that help me visualise the palette and light before I start.

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Now here you can see what i got from these ideas

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The Painting Setup

Because I’d already been painting earlier in the week, I had a ready-to-go palette —
so no time wasted setting up.

Colours on my palette: - Warm Cadmium Yellow and a cool yellow
- Warm and cool reds
- Ultramarine Blue
- Black
- White
- A tad of Burnt Sienna
- A little Dioxazine Purple (left over from the previous session — waste not!)

Honestly, I could’ve skipped the Dioxazine, but it was there, so I used it.

The Quick Sky Study

I kept this one simple.
A warm golden base fading up into soft Ultramarine, with that dramatic grey-mauve layer running across the middle.
It’s loose, quick, and imperfect — which I actually love.

When I’m pressed for time, these tiny sky studies are perfect.
They let me paint without overthinking, and I always learn something about how colours behave.

Sometimes the best work comes out of short windows — the pressure forces you to be decisive.

and if you don't like it.. well it was 30 mins.... and i can happily move on...

The Wrap-Up

Anyway, that’s all for today’s post — quick study, quick share.
I’ll be back soon with something more in-depth, but for now, my brain (and hand) are officially clocking off.

Thanks for stopping by — and as always,
Happy painting!
– Blingit 🎨