Mary’s Landscape Art Info

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.