Posts Tagged ‘landscape oil paintings’
Selling a Home in a Tough Economy
How can a homeowner make their home as appealing to potential homebuyers as possible? That’s a question on the minds of all homeowners looking to sell in this tough economic climate. The bottom line, success is often based on whether the home is move-in ready, or how much effort the current homeowner is willing to put in to make it ready.
Expensive upgrades and fresh paint won’t pay off all the time, but all sellers can benefit from a little reorganization. Much of what will spark a potential homebuyer’s interest is their first impression of a space. For example, does the home have a foyer or vestibule? If not, create one with a shoe and coat rack, and a nice landscape painting.
The Caloosahatchee Creeks Preserve
Today my friend and I headed out Route 78 to the Caloosahatchee Creeks Preserve to do some plein air painting. This is also known by the locals as the Pop Ash Preserve because the Pop Ash Creek runs through it.
Several parking spaces were available and a boardwalk ran along the road. Also, there was a hiking trail with boardwalk and handrails as far as I could see.
We set up our easels on the boardwalk along the road and tried to capture the native grasses, palm trees, and creek with its many reflections. It is always a challenge to me to try to express on canvas the feeling of an area containing such abundance of wild growth.
Mixing Colors for Landscape Paintings
If you have not mixed colors before now, this exercise will help you control the colors in your landscape paintings. First, we will mix Cad Red Light with Cad Yellow Hue, so place them about 6″ apart on a canvas or board or paper. (Masonite is great for this. Cut a piece into boards about 8″ x 10″ and cover with gesso). Leave some of the red where it is, but move most of it a short distance toward the yellow. Now, add a little yellow to the red mixture you just moved. Again, leave some of that where it is, but move most of it another short distance toward the yellow. Add a little more yellow to the orange-red you just created. Continue in this manner until next to the yellow, there is very little red in the mixture. Then below each, add white to each combination. You will see some of the combinations possible. Do the same for Ultramarine Blue and Alizarin Crimson and for Cerulean Blue and Cad Yellow Pale Hue.
To study the grays, mix orange and blue with varying amounts of white, and in like manner, red and green and white, and purple and yellow and white. I hope you were able to find some very neutral grays as well as some warm and cool grays.
Advancing and Receding Color in Landscape Paintings
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 more intense color as well as 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.
Value: The Second Dimension of Color
The second dimension of color is value. Value is the most important dimension for any artist working in color. Errors made in hue or intensity are much less serious than errors made in value.
The value of a color refers only to the lightness or darkness of a color. If we lighten the pure color by adding white, the result is called a tint. If we darken a color by adding black, the result is called a shade. In neither case did we change the hue, only the value.
In landscape paintings, the artist must recognize value differences in the subject and properly interpret them using the colors on the palette. The dark of some landscapes is much darker than the black of the palette, whereas, the reflection of light on a metal is many times lighter than the white.
Hue: The First Dimension of Color
Hue is the name used to denote a color. Red, yellow, purple, pea-green, etc., are different hues and are found on different locations on the color wheel.
The three primary colors of pigments are red, yellow, and blue. They are pure colors and cannot be made by combining any other colors. In my mental image of the color wheel, red is at 12:00 o’clock, yellow is at 4:00 o’clock and blue is at 8:00 o’clock.
The secondary colors are mixtures. Red and yellow combine to form orange (at 2:00), yellow and blue form green (at 6:00), and blue and red form purple (at 10:00).
Colors that are adjacent on the color wheel are said to be harmonious because each contains some color of the one next to it. Colors that are opposite on the color wheel are not at all related, and are called complements. When these are mixed, they form black, but when used in the same oil painting, they make the painting pop!
What ‘The Joy of Painting’ Taught Me
By the time I started taking art classes late in elementary school, I was painting landscapes that blew the teacher away. He couldn’t understand how I had become so proficient at painting without any classical training. It wasn’t that I possessed any kind of extraordinary talent – but I did harbor a secret. Every Sunday morning, I woke up early to join Bob Ross for a lesson in “The Joy of Painting.”
That PBS show influenced my artistic style a great deal, and Bob was just the sort of abstract landscape painter who could teach a hopeless student like me. He had so much passion for the art form that I couldn’t help but be transfixed. Even if most of his wilderness scenes ended up looking strikingly similar, painting along with him gave me a true appreciation for the diligence and artistry behind the craft.
Paintings that Transport You
I’m the type of person who cannot stand looking at white walls. It’s not as though my home is cluttered, but from the very first day I moved into the apartment I’ve been on the lookout for fine art to decorate the place. Most of the paintings that adorn my modest apartment are of woodland landscapes, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence. I’ll always be a naturalist at heart and even when I’m stuck inside the city I long to spend a few hours relaxing in the wilderness.
Simply put, the most effective pieces of art are the ones that evoke an emotional response. That’s not to say that a painting must move me to tears in order for me to appreciate it, but it should at least give me reason to pause and contemplate. Landscape oil paintings, when done correctly, transport me to another place and perhaps even another time.