Painting 101:

Aspects of landscape drawing and painting

by Tissa Hewavitarane

By comparison, the landscape is invariably relegated to space between the action-trees, hills and forests serving as handy composition devices or tactical props that satisfy artists. Every artist must quickly familiarise himself with the key elements of landscapes. He must seek terrain that gives cover and identify the various points for safe observation and estimate the possible hazards.

The skills are worthless unless they are committed to paper and recorded. And of course the most useful way of describing any landscape is through drawing and painting. It is more exacting than photography much quicker than map-making, rather less risky than blundering ahead into a hazardous and unfamiliar terrain. In outdoor sketching and painting carried perspective, shading texture and tree shapes-though the advice on how to describe a electric post is perhaps less useful for today's painter.

Where to start

Every art instructor and beginner in art ought to know the difficulty in selecting a view and beginning to make a sense of the visual confusion of a landscape. Some instructors may recommend using binoculars to resolve particularly obscure parts of the view, these have the added advantage that they flatten off natural forms making them easier to transcribe to paper. What you must aim to do is simplify what you want to draw. You have lot of freedom, you may remove unwanted trees, buildings or lamp posts.

Identifying key points

Once the basic out line of the whole landscape is put on paper, the next important step is to identify the key points to draw and paint. Before painting you have to pick what colours you choose for a specific scene. The scene depends on the location and the weather. If it is a sunny day or a rainy day or some days with mist.

James McNeil Whistler, the famous landscape painter was right when he said, "Seldom does nature succeed in producing a picture". What he meant was that a scene which is breathtaking to the naked eye may appear less exciting when it is translated into paint on a square sheet of paper. Often, it isn't enough simply to copy the subject in front of you, sometimes you may have to add, subtract or regroup one of the elements in the scene to create a more balanced image.

It is simply the means of arranging the parts of your picture so that they add up to a harmonious whole. A badly composed picture will look disjointed and faintly irritating. A well composed picture fits together in a satisfying way and pleasing to your eye, just as a play or film. Often has one main character and a supporting cast. In choosing subjects begin with simple subjects which demand a few colours. For example, a tree, a country lane, or a fence in the hedge.

When you have selected a subject it is a good idea to make a few rough sketches. Always keep a sketch book with you so that when there is no time to paint, you can make a quick sketch. Water is an endlessly fascinating a subject-matter and many people find landscapes which include both serene and peaceful scenes. Ponds, rivers and the sea constantly attract artists, but many when beginning to paint shy away because they find it difficult to paint water.

The important thing to remember is to forget about the surface and look deeper. Squint your eyes. Look for large light or dark shapes, the colourful patchwork that reflects sky and landscape. Put it together like a jigsaw puzzle, add a few horizontal ripples and the water is painted.

Handling perspective

Perspective was acknowledge to be the most common fault in many paintings and it's often a stumbling block for many artists. Naturally so much can be learned from sketching in the hands of a refined artist and the results are quite remarkable than that of a novice. The first thing we need to establish is the artist's eye-level which will determine the horizon line in the picture. For most people the horizon is where the earth meets the sky; but for the artist, the horizon is at eye-level, intersecting with an imaginary eye-line running straight ahead from the eye. Therefore, if the artist is sitting, the eye-level will be lower than if he or she was standing so too is the horizon. There are three different sorts but they're all quite easy to understand. There is one point perspective which is where all the parallel lines seems to converge to a single vanishing point.

Two point perspective is the most common, which is when the parallel lines seem to converge on two points on the horizon, as when you're painting a house and can see two sides.

Last is three point perspective but it's not much used unless you happen to be painting a sky-scraper from above, or a church tower from close to its base. This is when parallel lines seem to converge on two points on the horizon and another vanishing point either above or below the horizon line.

Regarding the drawing of figures or animals in perspective imagine you are standing one flat plain looking into the distance. There are figures in the foreground, middle distance and in the distance. You will need to draw them so that the horizon cuts them at eye level with sitting figures little lower. Think of perspective not as an adversary, but something that can be studied at any moment.

Need constant practice

The watercolourist can't guess and he may make only minor corrections. He works by elimination, by paring a subject down to its essentials. Water-colour, therefore, is the ideal medium for capturing the effects of light and is a medium that is fresh, alike and responsive to the moment and the shifting moods of nature. This medium too like other arts needs practice.

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