By: Amitseo Kumar Singh
Landscape Painting is a distinct genre of painting that captures nature in its natural form. The paintings are reflections of the skies, seas, rivers, sun, moon and greeneries on the canvas. One of the earliest and traditional painting forms, landscape paintings touch the heart of the modern art lovers with all their purity, naturalness and aestheticism. Visual documents of the panorama of nature the paintings with their timeless appeal have grown over the years as inspirations to the generations of artists. Indian selection of landscape paintings are the treasure trove of India. Watch them and get engrossed in the wilderness and unspoiled beauties of nature. Take a tour and enrich yourself with interesting information on landscape paintings.

The word landscape originates from the Dutch word “landschap” denoting areas of arable lands. Depicting natural sceneries in a medley of lines, colors and tones was the outcome of the natural inclinations of human beings to reflect what they mostly found around them. The early civilizations with less industrialization and urbanization presented nature in its complete bounties. Artists and poets admired them in their creations. Life was not at all complex and it was only nature and its diverse facets that formed the central theme of the paintings.

Landscape painting in its antiquated form can be observed in the pastoral sceneries of the Roman times. The paintings gained prominence with the emergence of Renaissance Art. Nature was romanticized and portrayed as philosophical and spiritual elements. Various religious and mythological events were represented via nature. Though the spiritual tones were absent in the Reformation times the paintings became more uniform and realistic in this era. The seventeenth and eighteenth century led to the flourish of the paintings with some master artists like Watteau, Gainsborough and Thoams Girtin. The breathtaking creations reached their acme in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Various movements of arts like abstract expressionism, impressionism and surrealism influenced the painting and brought in some new styles and techniques. Nature was observed scientifically and more importance was given to its hostile aspects. In the modern and postmodern landscapes nature is synchronized with human psychologies and complexities of life. The various facets of nature resemble the moods of human beings in manifolds.

Landscape paintings have several classifications. The skyscape paintings depict clouds, skies and weather conditions. Moon is aesthetically represented in moonscape paintings. The rivers and seas find visible expression in seascapes and riverscapes. The images of urban landscapes, industrialized cities, towns and streets are carved in cityscapes and hardscapes. The aerial landscapes offer an aerial view of the objects in the ground. Inscapes are visual images of the psychoanalytical mind as a three-dimensional space. Roberto Matta, Ajmes Gleeson and Jane Farnk are the specialists in inscape paintings. Various innovations and experiments with the landscape paintings are still going on. The paintings with all their connotations and aestheticisms are a connoisseur’s delight and a prized legacy of art.

Posted by Janet Schlarbaum

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By Armand Cabrera

Physically, painting in the studio differs from outdoor painting in only one respect—there is no time constraint on your efforts. The actual process of studio painting is generally the same as outdoor painting, though often more refined.

Limiting oneself to either studio or outdoor painting often causes your art, in general, to suffer. Outdoor painting carries freshness, a spontaneity, a truthfulness that can rarely be duplicated in the studio. Conversely, away from the sun, wind, insects, harsh elements and ever changing light, studio painting allows you to take your time and think deliberately through each stage of the process. Given no time constraints, studio painting enables you to complete large canvases. Organizational skills acquired in studio painting translates to painting outdoors, giving the artist more authority and confidence in the field.

Studio painting requires good working habits, free from distractions. I never start a painting in the studio unless I know I can accomplish enough work to lock in the concept. I find the concept is the most critical stage of the painting. Getting to this point carries me through the rest of the process. The majority of my studio and outdoor paintings are finished in one sitting. The time-spent painting in studio may be double or triple the time it takes to paint a piece outdoors.

The following is a list of some concepts and techniques to consider when painting in the studio. These ideas provide a thoughtful and deliberate approach to the painting process. Painting in studio does not require more detail or finishing every inch of the canvas equally. Do not think of these ideas as a departure from the technique used painting outdoors. All of these concepts are interrelated and the overall emphasis you place on their individual use determines what we call style.

PRELIMINARY SKETCHES

These sketches can be outdoor paintings or can be completed in the studio from a combination of outdoor sketches and/or photographs. A black and white value sketch can be separate from a color study if it helps you to better understand the elements of your design. Sketches or studies are helpful for working out the uncertainties of a design.

ACCURATE DRAWING

Although we try to be precise with our drawing when outdoors, concessions are often made in the spirit of expediency. A more accurate approach to drawing is possible in the studio when time is not so critical. This doesn’t mean tighter or more detailed drawing. Accurate drawing is attention to correct proportion and perspective. Good overall rhythm and balance are other considerations.

IDEALIZATION

Exaggeration and a stylized method of reproducing the essentials in a scene can be a useful tool in painting. These elements can provide a more powerful statement. To focus the center of interest, we sometimes use elongated or truncated forms or perhaps vary the size of an element in relation to the other parts of a painting. Nature rarely provides a scene that translates perfectly into a good painting—no matter how beautiful. When using exaggeration, one must be careful not to over embellish and end up with affectation and style over substance. Exaggeration is not a way of hiding inability or weakness in drawing.

PAINT APPLICATION

A deliberate and varied application of paint in thick and thin passages is aesthetically pleasing. Usually the darks are thinner, having been rubbed or laid in first. Thicker use of paint is generally limited to the lighter areas of the painting and the focal point of the design.

BRUSH CALLIGRAPHY

Brush Calligraphy is a more conspicuous method of brush use involving small and large brush shapes and the direction of paint application. This method is most notable in the Bravura Painters such as Frans Hals, John Singer Sargent, Anders Zorn, Joaquin Sorolla and Dean Cornwell.

KEYING

Keying your painting is a more thoughtful approach to color and value relationships in regards to the subject. Keying value can be thought of as confining the light and dark areas of the composition to a limited value range for a more unifying effect. Keying color is changing the color hues and color temperature of the scene for a more harmonious look than provided by nature. It can create a powerful mood that may not be representative of reality, but still reads as believable.

ABSTRACTION

Abstractions are the elements of the painting viewed as nonrepresentational shapes in relation to the pictorial plane. It is the organization, design and editing of these elements in the composition. It can include simplification of the scene or elements in the scene to emphasize the subject and the addition of elements not in the scene to lead the eye through the picture plane.

TEXTURE

Texture is a consideration of the textural properties of the subject being painted. Many artists ignore textural qualities to their detriment. These qualities accentuate the uniqueness of the objects and should not be overlooked when considering the overall design. The roughness of bark or stone and the smooth properties of still water are elements to be used in the overall orchestration of the painting.

Posted by Janet Schlarbaum

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By Annette Labedzki

Absurd, unconventional, and subjective by nature, Abstract Painting is a harmony of imagination and the basic strategy of Art. Spontaneity is a vital factor in painting an Abstract. It is innate and cannot be taught the conventional way. There are however, some vital boundaries of Art, which can be taken care of when painting an Abstract. The ensuing discussion provides some useful steps to painting an Abstract.

• Moodiness. Mood variations play an important part when painting an Abstract. The intensity of color employed on an Abstract Art Piece, significantly reflects the intensity of the mood of the artist. Each color on the Palette represents a different temperament, an element called Color Symbolism. The disposition of the artist, coupled with the mood of the color, conveys his/her passion to be a part of the Abstract Painting. The choice of a bright color signifies the high and the demonstrative intensity of an emotion while, a dominant use of dark color portrays subdued and passive emotions.

• Color Symbolism. To strengthen a particular connotation, the artists may alter the color of their Abstract Painting subject. For instance, a Violin lover would paint the drawn Violin in a bright hue, in order to validate his/her attachment to the subject. Similarly, an area of resentment is painted with dull & Gray shades.

• Shape Symbolism. Using different shapes for the subject, when painting an Abstract, is an authoritative way to picture one’s inner feelings and thoughts. Changing color is invariably blatant in conveying messages or in being Symbolic. Altering shapes however, has the bandwidth of being subtle or pronounced. To alter the shape of the subject, you may need to exaggerate the composition of anything. As a standard of Abstract Art, Circles denote relaxed feeling, while Squares may imply grit and obduracy.

• Manipulating the Levels of Details. This is an advanced step of painting an Abstract. Maneuvering fine details, adds depths to the emotions of an Abstract Art Piece. A shared level of details between two or more elements in an Abstract Composition shows their connections to one another. On the other hand, a difference in the level of details between subjects, decides their relative importance.

• Altering the Subject Perspective. This is the most recent trend in the field of Abstract Art. In this Abstract Art Technique, the perspective of the complete subject, or a portion of it is distorted. The idea of this technique is to illustrate an emotional disconnect, or to merely highlight some oddity in the nature or in the mind of the artist. For example, framing an entire Abstract Portrait in the normal front view, while doing the left eye in Right-Profile, is a concrete example of distorted Subject Perspective.

• Outlining. Bordering all or some portions of the Abstract Artwork conveys Artists’ own stylistic preference and the emotions they wish to convey. Jagged Outlines symbolize negative emotions towards the subject, while the Smooth Outlines indicate the reverse.

Posted by Janet Schlarbaum