How to Paint Summer Landscapes

The light and colors of summer offer beautiful scenes for a painting.

In the light of a bold summer sun, mountains and meadows beckon for a paintbrush, but landscapes can daunt even the most experienced artists. A panoramic scene encompasses such a wide array of objects and colors that capturing all of the details seems discouragingly difficult. With the proper approach, however, even an inexperienced artist can render a beautiful summer landscape, no matter what type of paint or style used.

Things You'll Need

• Photograph or real landscape
• Canvas or paper
• Oil or acrylic paint, or watercolors
• Paintbrushes
• Easel
• Palette

Instructions

1. Select your scene, either browsing through photographs or taking a walk in a rural area. Study the scene carefully, noting the placement of the objects, the contrast in light and shadow, and the variety of colors.

2. Decide how much of the scene you wish to include and where you want the light to appear. Make preliminary sketches, playing with the composition. You do not have to include every object you see, so if you feel that the composition will be stronger if you leave out a tree or add a bush, try it.

3. Set up your materials. Ensure that you have a good view of your photograph or live scene. Prop a canvas or a notebook of thick painting paper on an easel or set the notebook on your lap if you are painting outside. Apply dabs of the paint colors you will need to your palette if you are using oils or acrylics, probably green, brown, white, yellow and blue. Set a cup of water nearby if you are using watercolors or acrylic paints.

4. Thin a bit of blue, yellow or green paint and briefly sketch out the scene with this thinned color. This under painting will give your final landscape a certain hue and feel: blue feels colder, while yellow provides light and warmth.

5. Begin painting the sky and the background. The sky will be lighter near the horizon, so gently shade the blue towards the top. Observe the background carefully, but do not focus on the details. The foreground should be more detailed than the background.

   Use a dab of black mixed with yellow to achieve muted green tones. Lay down the darker colors for shadows first, adding lighter highlights. Begin by simply blocking the color, adding contour and detail as you progress. Let the layers dry between painting if you are using oils; otherwise, continue painting on the wet paint.

6. Add the foreground, painting the ground first and the objects on top of it. Pay close attention to the way the light and shadows fall, as the shadows will be darker in the foreground. Avoid going over areas multiple times; instead, observe your scene carefully and capture what you see in the minimum number of strokes. As in the background, lay down your dark colors first, and then add your highlights.

Tips & Warnings

• Try not to overwork your painting. Instead, paint the scene multiple times from various angles and in different light, like Monet.

References

• Artinstructionblog.com: Landscape Painting Demonstration
• Paint Easy: Landscapes