Archive for February, 2010
Choosing a Scene for your Landscape Painting
We are all attracted to some scenes more than others. So the first task is to find a scene that speaks to you. As you think about the placement of that scene on your canvas, think of a Tic-Tac-Toe grid. Where the vertical lines cross the horizontal lines are the “sweet spots”. The focus of your landscape painting should be in one of those 4 areas.
Using a view finder or making a square or rectangle with your hands (depending on the shape of your canvas) will help in deciding just what to draw on your canvas. Making a few sketches in your sketch book will help you in deciding exactly how you want to place your landscape painting on the canvas, what to include and what to omit. These sketches also help you to remember just where you were when you painted that scene..
Rain
It was supposed to rain today, the weatherman predicted, so my friend and I took time to catch up on some of the mundane activities of life. We mailed a small package at the Post Office, bought birthday cards for our friends, and checked out the lighting department at Home Depot.
All these activities are necessary for life to flow smoothly. However, the really important activities of life, like landscape painting, will have to be accomplished another day!
The Jaycee Park again
Today, my friend and I again went to the Jaycee Park in Cape Coral to do some plein air painting. The weather was warm, the sun was bright, and the wind a gentle breeze that increased a bit with time.
There were fewer people in the park today than on Saturday so fewer people stopped by to talk. We each found a group of trees to paint – those Australian pine trees with their long limbs, tall height, and with a look like a huge feather fan. What a wonderful way to spend a lovely day!
The Jaycee Park
We had another warm day on Saturday and my friend and I visited the Jaycee Park in Cape Coral, FL, at the end of Beach Parkway. Here we found some very large trees – Australian pines – that have interesting markings for landscape paintings.
These trees grow to a height of 100 feet and have long branches with a wonderful array of wispy grey-green leaves that look like a giant fan in the sky. The trunks are large, sometimes twisted, and with a variety of unusual marks and scars from long-ago cut off branches. These are the kinds of trees I love to paint for they have personality!
How Color is Affected by Adjacent Colors
A color is affected by the color next to it. Try this: Draw four squares about 2″ on a side and within each, draw another square about 1″ on a side. Paint the middle square of each the same color, say red. For the surrounding squares, use yellow, green, blue and gray respectively. Notice that the red appears different against the yellow background as compared with the others.
Another suggestion would be to set up a simple still life. Look at the various shapes of light and shadow. Mix one color and put it on the canvas, then another. Don’t worry if the color doesn’t look the same on the canvas as it did on the palette. Continue until you have the whole canvas covered. Then go back and make the corrections you need. Chances are that when you change one color, you will also have to alter the surrounding colors. This is good practice for your landscape paintings.
Getting Ready for Landscape Painting
As an artist, you need to be in control of the colors and the mood of your landscape painting. It is up to you to decide if you want to paint the scene ahead in warm colors or cool colors.
The following is a suggestion: Set up a small still life and paint it in the colors that are correct for each object. Then take each of the colors you used on your palette and divide them in half. Add a small amount of yellow to half of each color you used and paint the scene again. Lastly, add a small amount of blue to the other half of each original color and paint the scene a third time. Notice that the second painting is warmer than the original and the third painting is cooler than the original. Which do you like the best?
Colors to use for Landscape Paintings
If you are a beginner, chances are that you may need to buy paint. Inexpensive paint will work just fine as all paint consists of pigment and a binder, often linseed oil. I suggest small tubes of warm and cool varieties of the three major colors plus raw umber and white. For example, alizarin crimson and cadmium red light, cadmium yellow hue and cad yellow pale hue (cadmium is a heavy metal and is toxic, therefore always use the hue, if possible), ultramarine blue and cerulean blue.
Titanium white is probably the best white for all around use and you will probably need a large tube, but bear in mind that titanium is also toxic, so if some gets on your skin, try to wash it off as soon as possible. Personally, I use Flake White Replacement, as it is non toxic, but more difficult to find.
Also, consider the medium you might want to use to dilute the colors and/or help them to flow. In the past, I used turpentine to help the colors flow, as well as to wash my brush. However, turp is also toxic. Now, I use linseed oil for both purposes. Ordinary canola oil is good for cleaning the brushes followed by washing with ordinary hand soap or Master’s Soap, which is wonderful for getting out even dried paint.
With these few colors, you will be able to mix any color you choose in preparation for your landscape paintings.
Advancing and Receding Colors
Landscape paintings use a two-dimensional surface to show a three-dimensional scene. In order to create a believable painting, the artist must use his/her knowledge of colors and edges.
Cool colors appear further away from us than warm colors when seen from the same location.Mountains in the distance will become cooler with greater distance. Also, they will become grayer, less intense, and with edges that are less distinct. Objects in the foreground will appear to have warmer colors, more intense color, and sharper edges.
Warm and Cool Colors
In our daily experiences, we associate red, orange and yellow with fire and heat. When we enter a room decorated in those colors, we feel warm. Likewise, we associate cold starry nights with blue. Deep water is blue. Ice has shades of blue and green. A room decorated in blues and greens makes us feel cool.
In general, a color is warmed by the addition of yellow or red and cooled by the addition of blue. In doing landscape paintings, it is necessary for the artist to be able to recognize the warm and cool colors of nature. Some days are sunny days and the landscape is composed of warm colors and cool shadows, whereas, other days are cloudy days and the landscape has a cooler feeling with warmer shadows. The artist must be able to control the warmth or coolness of the hues depending on the ultimate effect (s)he wants to create.
Expressing Creativity Through Your Hobbies
Many people find that they don’t get to be as creative at work as they would desire, and if you’re an artistic person in an inartistic field, that can leave you a bit unsatisfied at the end of the day. If this is the case, but you’re not looking to change jobs at this point in your life, you can always convert your artistic preferences into a daily hobby. If you’re a writer, consider keeping a daily journal of your thoughts and ideas. Whether you jot down poems or what happened at the grocery store during your lunch hour, it’s a good way to express yourself on a daily basis.
If you’re more visually artistic, consider converting your garage into a kind of makeshift studio. This way, you can spend your nights or weekends painting, sketching, or doodling. If the garage door opens, it’s all the better, because you’ll be able to enjoy the natural light. When you have time on the weekends, take your easel out into nature become a plein air painter.