Tips for Painting Landscapes
Straight From Our Community
CREATING A SUCCESSFUL LANDSCAPE
This month we have a gorgeous new course out with Nikol Wikman! It made me think about how we can support all of you landscape lovers out there! We asked our artist community to share their tips on creating a successful landscape and THEY ANSWERED! Keep on reading to see who our featured artists are for the month, and what strategies they use when painting landscapes!
FEATURED ARTIST #1- KIM VAN DER HOEK
KIM'S LANDSCAPE TIPS
- Prepare - Know what your main idea is BEFORE you begin painting.
- Think about shapes vs. details - Big shapes are more important than little details. Details will never save a weak design so don’t get caught up in them.
- Be intentional - The key to making your painting looking fresh and spontaneous is laying down each brushstroke and leaving it alone. Doing that requires a bit of thought before pressing your brush onto the canvas.
KEEP UP WITH KIM ON SOCIAL
FEATURED ARTIST #2 - ANNA BATTLE
ANNA'S PORTRAIT TIPS
- Make sure your landscape has a focal point and avoid placing it at the center of your composition.
- Remember that nothing in nature has one flat color. Even a clear blue sky has a variety of tones and hints of other colors in it.
- Not everything must be painted in details. Leave some areas of your landscape with just a suggestion of what is there. The viewer's brain will fill in the gaps.
KEEP UP WITH ANNA ON SOCIAL
FEATURED ARTIST #3 - NIKOL WIKMAN
NIKOL'S LANDSCAPE TIPS
- Simplicity - Whether painting from a reference photo or using my imagination when painting an abstract landscape, l like to leave some stuff out. For example, trees or bushes can be grouped into simple shapes, flowers can be indicated with a few spots of colour or a mountain with a single line. This allows the viewer to fill in the blanks with their imagination making what they see a more personal experience.
- Movement - I love when an abstract landscape has a lot of movement. For me this is created by actually moving my body while I paint. Whether I am using large sweeping motions, small flicks or fast moving brush strokes if I am moving freely I know that will be reflected in the painting, which I think is really cool!
- Colour and Value - Colour and value have a huge effect on the mood of a painting. Soft muted colours feel calm while high value contrast attracts our attention and adds drama. Often if a painting is feeling a little lackluster amping up the values, pushing the darks, darker and adding bright highlights can make a huge difference!
KEEP UP WITH NIKOL ON SOCIAL
TAKE A CLASS WITH NIKOL ON OUR NETWORK!
Nikol has created several classes for our community over the years! Her first course was FEARLESS FLOWERS, which is no longer available for sale on our network, but it was our first introduction to Nikol, and the students immediately fell in love with her fun style of teaching and art! In 2020, she brought BIG, BEAUTIFUL BLOOMS to our network, which was a HUGE success! This course taught students how to create giant floral paintings for their homes and office! Students loved this class so much, that Nikol decided to take this idea to abstract landscape paintings! In her latest class INTUITIVE LANDSCAPES, you will discover and explore many new techniques to create gorgeous, abstract landscape art for your home, office, or as gifts for your loved ones! This class will open on October 20th! The feedback from Nikol's students is incredible. She is a community favorite and you won't be sorry signing up for one or both of her courses! INTUITIVE LANDSCAPES is currently running the early bird special through October 6th!
Want to Be Featured?
Would you like to be a featured artist on our blog, or social media? We want to hear directly from our community on your own personal struggles with your artwork and/or art business. Each month we will have different forms for you to fill out, and these will guide many of our sharings over the year. Follow the button below to fill out our current form on topics that will be discussed over the next few months!
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I hate doing landscapes because I do get bogged down in the details so this was very helpful. I especially love the idea of the black and white photo to see where you can increase your darks and lights. I think that will help me with all my paintings!