landscape
OVERVIEW - painted sketches
Painting landscapes is similar to still life painting, objects are arranged in space. They overlap to create a mood with color and shape. The major difference is the scale of the objects being painted, often still life is a contained area with objects arranged with some order or narrative. In landscape the view can be expansive and narrative is more subtle because of the immensity of the picture. Atmospheric perspective is at play far more in landscape painting because the space is much deeper than most still life.
In this picture, the aerial perspective effect is emphasized by a series of mountains in different planes photographed in a near contre-jour situation
To start a landscape painting simplify the shapes and values of the picture down to about five colors including white and black. I also recommend squinting at your reference, and your painting, a lot as you start your painting. This helps you see large chunks of colors instead of individual leaves on all the trees. Below I have series of resources and paintings. The resource is to the left of the painting in each case. I also have them arranged from least done to most done. Notice the top painting has very few small marks and large chunks of unrefined colors. If you squint at both images the differences will become more apparent. Work your way down the page squinting at the sets of images and notice fewer and fewer mistakes. There are still some differences but they gap between the photo and the painting narrows with the last painting.
HOW TO START - videos
Here are two videos you can watch, neither of them have sound and they are both sped up about so that one minute is about an hours worth of painting. The first video shows how to start the painting. I use the color of the canvas as a value in the image. This speeds up my process, because I am simply carving away the stuff that is wrong and using the marks to shape the silhouette. I start with the most interesting thing and work my way out. What this does is insure that the focus of my painting is where I want it to be. When you take a nice photo if the most interesting thing is right in the middle the picture can feel really static, like you can't move. But, if you shift that focal point just off center it will create a little movement in the picture, because your mind and your eye will work to settle that picture so it doesn't move. It's a little trick. Try it out the next time your take a photo of your friends.
TIPS
Start with big chunky blocks of local color and value.
Use a big brush to start, you'll cover more canvas.
SQUINT at your reference and your painting.
Alternate between refinement and contrast. An easy way to do this is to switch brushes.
different brushes make different marks and in landscape it is important to capture the nuance of different types of plants one way to do that effectively is to change the type of mark you use to reference them.
Paint everything as many times as you can each class period.
It like guesses for the right answer. The more guesses you get the more likely you will be to get it right.
Paint fast and slow.
This will create different marks and verity will add energy.
