There’s something about a spectacular landscape that makes my fingers itch to capture its essence on canvas, to be able to create a landscape painting that generates the same intense emotion in someone who views the painting as the landscape did in me. Here are some tips to help you with your next landscape painting.
Don't Put Everything In
You're not obliged to include everything that you see in the landscape you're painting simply because it is there in real life.
(In fact, I’d go as far as to say that if you do this, then you might as well take a photo and have it printed on canvas.) Be selective, include the strong elements that characterise that particular landscape. Use the landscape as a reference, to provide you with the information you need to paint the elements, but don't slavishly follow it.
Use Your Imagination
If it makes for a stronger painting composition, don't hesitate to rearrange the elements in the landscape. Or take things from different landscapes and put them together in one painting. (Obviously this doesn't apply if you're painting a famous, readily identifiable scene, but the majority of landscape paintings are not of postcard scenes, but rather to capture the essence of a landscape.)
Give the Foreground Preference
Don't paint the whole landscape to the same degree of detail: paint less detail in the background of the landscape than you do in the foreground.
It's less important there and gives more 'authority' to what's in the foreground. The difference in detail also helps draw the viewer's eye into the main focus of the landscape painting.
It's Not Cheating to Buy Green Paints
You're not 'cheating' if you buy green paints in a tube rather than mixing your own.
One of the main benefits of doing this is that it means you always have instant access to particular greens. But don't limit yourself; extend the range of 'ready-made' greens by adding blue or yellow to it.
Read Full Article Here: Top 7 Tips for Landscape Painting
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