Every day, Chris Judge shares photos of clouds that he has transformed into playful characters. This ongoing project, aptly titled A Daily Cloud, started during the first COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 when Judge was spending more time in the yard with his family. He shared some of these illustrations on his social media and was pleasantly surprised by the feedback he received. Since then, the whimsical idea has continued to grow, sharing “happy cloud art” in people's feeds every day.
From toothy crocodiles to sleeping bears, Judge reimagines fluffy clouds as a variety of quirky characters. While sometimes the shapes are more obvious, others require him to think outside the box—finding faces where most wouldn't think to even look. Keeping the style minimal is also key, as Judge doesn't want his doodles to cover too much of the actual cloud. “I try to draw as few lines as possible and let the shape of the cloud itself do the heavy lifting,” he tells My Modern Met.
While in the beginning, Judge supplied most of the photos, he now receives numerous submissions from his followers, meaning the inspiration for art is neverending. “If it's a nice cloudy day, I take lots and lots of photos throughout the day on either my iPhone or my Canon M6 Mark ii,” he says. “Every afternoon, I choose a photo of my own or one that someone has submitted that I think will work well and then I import it into Procreate.” From there, Judge lets the image dictate his drawing, leading to the next addition to his collection.
Thanks to the success of his series, Judge has a book coming out next year called Cloud Babies. You can now pre-order the book on Bookshop. Scroll down for more cloud illustrations right now and follow A Daily Cloud on Instagram for even more.
Artist and author Chris Judge has been transforming clouds into playful illustrations since 2020.
He draws cartoon faces onto photographs of clouds.
He reveals the people, bears, crocodiles, dogs, and other creatures “hiding” in the clouds.
A Daily Cloud: Website | Instagram
My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by A Daily Cloud | Chris Judge.
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