Contents
Have you ever stood in awe of a beautiful landscape painting and wished you could capture its essence on canvas? I know I have, and seeing a beautiful landscape painting and being outside in nature has inspired me to paint landscapes.
A good landscape painting captures natural beauty.
Some landscape paintings are hyper-realistic as if the subject is right in front of them.
Other landscape paintings are more abstract, capturing how a sight makes you feel.
You don’t have to be an expert to paint beautiful landscapes.
Here are some of the greatest landscape painting tips for new and experienced painters.
1. Simplify the Clutter
Many artists tend to get lost in the details when painting landscapes. While details are important, they should often be added towards the end. It’s more effective to highlight specific areas (focal points) and let your imagination fill in the rest. You can do this by using lighter brushwork, brighter and more vivid colors, sharp color contrasts, and simplifying the background.
2. Use the Palette Knife to Add Texture and Crisp Edges
A palette knife is more than just for mixing paint; it’s a handy tool for painting itself. You can use it alongside brushes or even make whole paintings with it, which gives a unique effect.
For landscape painting, palette knives are great for:
- Adding texture to rocks.
- Making bold clouds in the sky.
- Adding bright highlights during a sunset.
- Adding texture to a flat seascape.
- Creating lines like fences.
- Giving trees and shrubs a textured look.
3. Give the Illusion of Numbers
In landscape painting, you don’t need to paint every single thing you see. Instead, you can give the impression of many objects.
For example, if you’re painting a forest, paint the overall shapes and colours of the trees first, then add details to only a handful of them. This manner, it will still seem like a forest without requiring too many features.
4. Subtle Variations With a Limited Palette of Colors
Beginner landscape painters sometimes struggle with not having enough color variation in their work. This can make the painting look flat and not 3D.
In many landscapes, you’ll see a simple mix of greens, blues, and earthy colors. To make sure your painting doesn’t look too plain, you should add subtle differences in areas with similar colors, like changing the tones or values. For instance, you can add some yellowish strokes to break up a large area of green grass.
But don’t force variation if it’s not there in nature. Paint what you see, and if there isn’t much variation, that’s okay too (although it’s rare in nature).
5. Color Temperature Is Relative, Not Absolute
Color temperature is like a scale that measures how cool or warm a color feels. Blues and greens are examples of cool colours, whereas yellows, oranges, and reds are examples of warm colours.
But here’s the thing: colour temperature does not have to be seen as an absolute. Instead, it’s about comparing colors in your painting.
For example, if you have a cool blue and you add a bit of orange, that mix becomes WARMER than the original blue. And if you have an orange with a touch of blue, it becomes COOLER than the pure orange.
Even if your painting mostly has cool colors, you can still think about color temperature. Maybe you want some warmer greens where there’s more light, for instance.
6. Learn to Embrace Imperfection
Don’t stress over making everything perfect in your landscape painting. Nature has its imperfections, and that’s okay!
Unlike still-life scenes and portraits where you need precision, landscapes give you a little wiggle room. Embrace the natural imperfections and enjoy the process.
7. Start Dark and Work up in Value
As a beginner, begin by adding the darkest values in your painting, then gradually move towards the highlights.
For oil and acrylic painting, avoid starting with highlights, as it can be challenging to judge the correct value and may lead to a cloudy effect when mixed with darks.
In watercolor painting, it’s common to start with the highest values and work downward.
8. Incorporate Timed Sketches to Improve Your Judgment
Improve your landscape painting skills with timed or quick sketches. These can be done outdoors or from photos, and it’s best to keep the canvas small. Aim to finish within a set time, like 20 minutes.
The result doesn’t need to be perfect; the goal is to paint more instinctively and enhance your ability to judge values and colors.
9. It Is All Just Shapes, Lines, and Colors
When painting, see elements in your scene as shapes, lines, and colors, not just as clouds, trees, water, or grass. By focusing on these basic components, you’ll create a more accurate representation of your landscape. Painting from your imagination may lead to inaccuracies, like overly green trees or an overly blue sky.
10. Go Black and White or Monotone to Increase Your Understanding of Value
To improve your grasp of values in landscape painting, try using just black and white or a limited color range like different tints and shades of raw umber. This will help you accurately judge the lightness and darkness of your landscape, a crucial aspect of painting.
