Painting Landscapes

Introduction

When you go out to paint, try to forget what objects you have before you, a tree, a house, a field or whatever. Merely think here is a little square of blue, here an oblong of pink, here a streak of yellow, and paint it just as it looks to you, the exact colour and shape, until it gives you your own naïve impression of the scene before you.

CLAUDE MONET

Vapour Clouds at the Power Station, Kevin Scully. (12" × 10", oil on board)

The water vapour emitted from the chimneys at this power station takes on some spectacular colours, depending on the atmospheric conditions and the colour of the sky at certain times of the day. To obtain the full impact of this, the chimneys are best viewed from a distance. The white area at the bottom of the painting could be mistaken for snow, but is in fact several acres given over to growing papaver somniferum, the opium poppy used in the pharmaceutical trade. The choice of contrasting colours - orange and blue used in this image - add a sense of drama to the unusual subject matter.

All painting is an illusion. When we produce a painting, we are attempting to recreate the sensation experienced when viewing something in three dimensions, into a two-dimensional representation. The physical process of applying paint to a support is something that will always be totally unlike creating an image by any other mechanical or digital means. It is deep in our DNA to want to make symbols of those things that we see around us by using an ancient physical process. Ever since Homo sapiens began making representational marks on cave walls, we have been striving to do the same in ever more sophisticated ways. It is a means of self-expression, together with the need to communicate with others that which we see around us.

For painters, the click of a button and the manipulation of the photographic image will never be enough to satisfy the desire to reproduce what he or she experiences when being confronted with the complexities of nature. Why do we bother to paint the landscape, when we can far more easily photograph it? There are many obstacles to overcome, and the methods employed in translating what we see into a painting are countless and sometimes tortuous. But it is this journey that we make, with all of its complications and twists and turns, that gives the most satisfaction. It is something that has to be worked at, to be fretted over and eventually to be honed into the finished article that actually makes a statement about why we chose the subject in the first instance.

The Old Bridge at Carcassonne, David Sawyer. (16" × 24", oil on board)

Contre-jour, or painting against the light, is an excellent way of working, especially if you want to avoid getting bogged down in too much detail. The complex architecture of the medieval city and bridge has been reduced almost to a silhouette. The large, dark tree on the right gives a degree of cohesion to the whole composition and keeps the attention focused in the centre of the picture. The whole painting was completed in less than three hours, and all painted on the spot. With a minimum of brushwork and a limited colour range, the artist has produced a very successful and convincing painting. When in doubt, it always pays to keep it simple!

High Oaks Farm, Deborah Tilby. (18" × 18", oil on board)

Subjects such as this are fun to paint - all the paraphernalia that is found in a farmyard has been painted loosely and without any definition, merely suggesting what it all might be rather than actually stating it. The large, fairly plain expanse of yellow/green field on the right of the painting creates a strong design element. The narrow strip of foliage and fence on the left divides the composition vertically, and this has been counterbalanced by the road on the right. The scene is backlit with simple clouds painted with very little detail, but just sufficient to suggest the backlighting. The warm, golden colour with which the board has been prepared has been allowed to peek through in certain areas, which unifies the whole painting.

There are often underlying patterns and arrangements in the landscape that appeal to us in a subconscious way, and it is by understanding and analysing these systems that we can begin to reproduce an image that appeals to us. However, by simply basing our paintings on long-established rules, and underpinning them with trusted compositional structures, we will only be able to tell half the story. But there are no limitations when it comes to using our imagination and desire to reproduce in paint that which initially inspired us.

But there are limitations to what can be reproduced using just paint. For example, it's impossible to replicate the brilliance of pure light by simply placing pigment on canvas, but by employing certain devious means, the sensation can be simulated by the manipulation and juxtaposition of colour in its various tones.

Not everything in nature is perfect, and just because something is there, it doesn't necessarily mean we have to reproduce it exactly as we see it. A few adjustments might have to be made when translating the natural world into an agreeable composition. The challenges set by nature are immense and complex, and ultimately the way in which we represent them as painters is an individual one. We should strive to look beyond simply copying what we see, and instead we should attempt to make a statement about the sensation that drove us to paint that particular scene in the first place.

Village Laundry, Kerala, Kevin Scully. (20" × 27", oil on board)

Although by no means an uncommon subject for a painting, the sheer volume of washing on display perhaps excuses its inclusion in this book. This was also just a small section of ground that the laundry occupied in this village in the region of Kerala in southern India. The sheer volume of washing has been emphasized by the viewpoint taken, showing the lines at an angle, and the washing diminishing in size as it moves across the composition. To add interest to the image, small patches of colour seen in the washing have been scattered around the rest of the painting. The main focus has been strengthened by the dark background.

The term 'landscape painting' can also encompass other categories of subject matter, and there is much justification for overlapping one with the other. Although it definitely excludes portrait and figure painting, as well as interior scenes and traditional still-life subjects, there is good enough reason to include certain river and seascapes as well as urban and industrial landscapes. In its broadest terms, it could be described as painting anything that exists outside.

Inspiration and Motivation

There is nothing so exciting for an artist than to be able to pick up their brushes and paints and dive headlong into painting a scene that has fired them into action. Inspiration leads to motivation, and as a general rule we are inspired by the things we like to look at. By consistently placing ourselves in front of those scenes that delight us, inspiration will eventually shine upon us and keep us enthused during our painting sessions. This may be the early morning mist rising from a deep valley, or perhaps the lengthening shadows of winter trees on a sunny, snow-covered hillside at dusk. What inspires one person may not necessarily inspire another. A simple path leading into a wood may not seem to be the most exciting of subject matters, but if you have chosen to paint it for whatever reason first stirred you, it is the way in which you convey your interest in the scene to others that is the challenge.

Seeking inspiration can be a frustrating experience. If you feel the urge to paint, and nothing that presents itself inspires you, it is very easy to become dejected, especially if you end up painting something just for the sake of it. This approach usually leads to a very unsatisfactory outcome. Nobody can be inspired all of the time, but when that moment arrives you must be prepared for action.

Virtually every landscape subject has been tackled by another artist at some time or other, but this doesn't mean that you can't interpret it in your own, individual way. Within this book there are a number of paintings by different artists, each possessing a particular, unique style. Some of them will undoubtedly appeal to you more than others, but they have been chosen because they each have qualities to be admired. Because you may be drawn to the style in which some of them have been painted, this doesn't necessarily mean that you wish to paint in that way. With experience your own handwriting will emerge, usually in spite of adopting some of the techniques of another painter. Although a highly realistic image may have been executed with great skill, and may contain all of those elements that combine to reproduce a great painting with faultless technique, it may not be appropriate for you. Your natural instinct may require the same scene to be painted with looser, less descriptive brushwork. Your approach may be a more expressive response to the landscape that you have chosen to depict.

However, inspiration can be drawn from those paintings that appeal to you; it may be the low horizon line, or the way in which the image has been unconventionally cropped, or perhaps the muted colour palette that the artist has used. It's very difficult to work in isolation, and even the greatest painters will have been influenced by others that have gone before them, and often perhaps by some of their contemporaries....