How to paint a landscape drawing. Painting a landscape is undoubtedly among the first ideas that pass through the minds of novice painters, and we are not surprised at all: it is a test that everyone must face. Dedicating yourself to landscape painting can be very simple or very difficult: it is up to the artist himself to raise or lower the bar, regardless of the chosen landscape. We have already provided some advice for those who want to start painting in general. Here we mind on some essential advice for those who are about to paint a landscape for the first time (or for the second time, for the third time) and look for suggestions to improve the result, and why not, to have more fun.
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12 tips for painting a landscape
The museums and art galleries that dot our country are full of sublime examples of landscape painting. The first step to paint a landscape effectively is undoubtedly to observe, in addition to the actual landscapes drawing, also the landscapes painted by the greats of the past and present. But, of course, landscaping has long been relegated to a second level, starting with the Platonic thought for which art should always create and not imitate.
Although they have never been lacking, Landscapes have become central in the art world since the nineteenth century, thanks to artists such as William Turner and John Constable. It is possible to start from their works to understand how to paint landscapes, then moving on to the beautiful landscapes painted by Claude Monet, to get to contemporaries, such as the American Andrew Wyeth or the Italians Sergio Scatizzi and Mauro Illusi, to name just a few. Therefore, the first step is to devote yourself a little to the study of the works of others!
Leave the larger canvases for the following paintings
Yes, we know: budding painters who try their hand at landscapes are immediately led to purchase a large canvas for painting. The reasoning ranks: the landscape is something big and needs broad support instead of portraits, which can instead do with smaller canvases. Was it not that managing a large canvas is not easy, least of all for novice painters or those who are facing landscapes for the first time? Much better, therefore, to leave the larger canvases for subsequent works, starting with medium-sized supports.
Don’t attempt to do everything in a single gathering
There are many great reasons to avoid getting stubborn about starting and finishing a landscape painting in the same session. In order not to be in a hurry, to eliminate the stress of having to spend, to be able to let time pass between one layer and another, to let the color dry – in the case of oil colors – because only when you don’t look at a painting for a few now, you can see the drawing and painting errors.
In the landscape painted outdoors, the desire to finish in a single session may be more significant not to have to return to the place for fear of not finding that light anymore. Yet, undoubtedly, a landscape done well, calmly, requires on average two or three sessions: much better to find a place that can easily reach the next day to paint en plain air!
Try making small canvases in less than half an hour
We just said that you should never be in a hurry to finish a painting in one session. However, in the case of landscapes, to learn to synthesize what we see, it may be helpful from time to time to practice with small canvases (such as those of 20 by 20 centimeters) to start and finish in half an hour. Even without striving for perfection, it is an activity that allows you to train yourself to paint following your instinct.
Lines and colors, not trees and flowers
What do we paint when we paint a landscape? Trees, clouds, flowers, grass, stones, hills. It can be helpful to, however, to always start thinking about these objects as lines, colors, shades. It is because we all have in our heads a somewhat stereotyped image of trees, clouds, and flowers: it is better to think in terms of lines and brushstrokes to be able to paint what is in front of us!
Play with colors
Not infrequently, the landscape in front of us presents a limited number of colors. You might find yourself facing a green hill rising under a blue sky and nothing else. Or in a wood where the brown of the trunks alternates with the green of the foliage.
The risk, in these cases, is to have flat paintings, without life or depth, precisely due to having played with a narrow palette. To avoid the risk, it is good to vary the hue, temperature, and value of the colors, making them here and there darker or lighter, adding a few drops of cold or warm coloring, etc. If you need some advice on creating a color scheme, we talked about it in one of our many blog articles.
Try making a monochrome canvas
Not infrequently, novice painters have difficulty managing the brightness of the colors of their painting, failing to capture the changes in brightness in the landscape they face. To train in this sense, it can be precious to paint monochromatic landscapes, and therefore with a single color, from start to finish, to be lightened and darkened according to the moment’s needs. Moreover, it can be handy for learning!
Simplify
Flowers with color petals, faceted pebbles, a lizard peeking out into a corner. A farmer with a checked shirt and a striped handkerchief around his neck, a trunk with really intriguing bark. To paint your landscape, you have to learn to simplify, limiting the details to the last brushstrokes and only to the focus of your landscape. Emphasize the part that interests you the most, and simplify everything else!
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