I was not very excited at the thought of having to create a landscape painting. I find them pretty uninspiring and typical. It's been a while since I've created a landscape so I was pretty nervous as well. I decided, however, that I was going to make mine unique since that is what I am best at, rather than try to replicate the photo. I found a photo of the Swiss Alps I took this past summer that I have loved ever since I took it. I decided to look through all of the photos taken from that trip in an attempt to not settle at the first thing that inspired me but kept going back to the one with the cows in it. I thought the composition was really nice as it had a foreground (cows and trees), middle ground (lake), and background (mountains).
Like I said, I knew I wanted to make the piece unique and we all know how I accomplish that... By adding lots of colors of course! After sketching the basic outline, I began the painting layering blues and greens but quickly got bored, as per usual, and now the painting has reds and purples and yellows. I kept with the original color scheme, just added my own touch. I decided to also go for a stylized look as opposed to realistic. My brush strokes are very loose and can easily be depicted but I like the effect that has on the piece. It adds a lot of texture and creates great movement within the piece.
The mountains came easily to me after achieving the right shades of blue, however I struggled with the amount of layers necessary to create depth in the trees as well as painting the cows. I kept painting, waiting for it to dry, and painting some more. I took the same loose approach and am really happy with how it turned out. I think the cows could use a little more detail as the shapes may not be easily recognized, however, I like the various colors that I added to them. I hadn't intended the trees to be this thick, expecting more light to show through, but now I like how pretty much every color found elsewhere is incorporated in them. There is definitely repetition throughout which aids the good composition. |
Looking back at the first landscape I created Freshman year is extremely encouraging because, while landscapes are not my specialty, I can tell how much I have come into my own style and have really improved my technique. This piece really proved to me how possible it truly is to put your style into everything you do and how impossible it is to try to be a different artist for a piece. I'm proud of the outcome, but am not expecting to do more landscapes in the future.
Looking back at the first landscape I created Freshman year is extremely encouraging because, while landscapes are not my specialty, I can tell how much I have come into my own style and have really improved my technique. This piece really proved to me how possible it truly is to put your style into everything you do and how impossible it is to try to be a different artist for a piece. I'm proud of the outcome, but am not expecting to do more landscapes in the future.