I have watched Geoff Kersey paint skies during his many demos, he produces very effective skies very quickly and with a freshness that looks very good. I have tried many attempts at skies using the same techniques but don't get the same or similar effects. I understand the paint-drying timing of the technique but there's something I keep missing. My attempts look staged and don't flow. I use rough paper, similar brushes and paint etc. Any ideas on some aspect I might have missed anyone?

Hello Budrub! When you paint your skies, do you have your paper flat or at an angle?
The things to consider are;

Angle of Paper
For the paint to flow, there needs to be a "fall" on the paper, so that the colours you apply will try to find their way down the paper; you can also turn the paper around so that you move the paint flow in different directions to achieve various effects
Strength / Thickness of the paint
Have a scrap piece of watercolour paper to test the strength of your paint, and either weaken or strengthen it to achieve the intensity you want
Dampness of Paper
Stretch the paper by wetting it thoroughly, mopping it with a clean cloth to take off the excess water then tape it down onto a suitable board. If its dried off when you want to start the painting, wet the sky area with clean water - depending upon the paper size, I usually use a 1" Flat, or a No.16 Round - then paint a couple of swathes of your colour onto the wet paper, leaving some white spaces if the sky is cloudy, then control how you want the colour to run by turning the paper around. Try also dropping touches of, say, weak Paynes Grey or weak Burnt Sienna into the (still wet) sky to introduce a little English weather!

You will get there in the end if you keep practicing!

Lets know if it helps, or not!

Steve Williams
RSC

Yes and Wetting the paper properly is an important stage... too many simply coat the paper quickly with water so that it is only surface wet. You need to feed your paper well ( not Flood it! it will only hold so much and that depends on the weight of the paper)
I actually spend a minute or two brushing the clean water into the paper so that it is wet all the way through and evenly wet too.. (brush side to side & up and down and then across the diagonal especially on rough paper) Wet it once to feed it and follow through with a fresh clean wash... then go..This will give you an longer working time. Have colours mixed and ready to start. I generally use 3 colours starting with the lightest..(angle the board as Steve stated) apply the paints from the horizon up over..that way the colours will run down into each other avoid candy stripes by zig zaging each colour together, always take a colour through another in one direction only to keep them clean, Mop clouds out with a squeezed out brush (use it the same way as you would mop milk off a floor...in a sweeping motion no dabbing!!
Painting skies takes practice..so divide your paper into strips and just keep working one after another...
Go and do a workshop with a good Tutor, and its much easier to learn by watching a live demonstration by someone that explains the processes. Good luck Carol.

Hello
The heavier the paper - the better the flow. I use 300lb