If you are a landscape painter, you probably use photos as references for your paintings. Photos can be very helpful and convenient, but they can also create some problems if you copy them too literally. In this blog post, I will show you how to improve your landscape painting by not copying the photo, but by using your own judgment and creativity.
The Problem: Copying the Photo Can Make Your Painting Look Stormy and Flat
One of the problems with copying a photo is that it can make your painting look stormy and flat. This is because photos can distort the colors, values, and perspective of the scene, especially if they are taken in bad lighting or weather conditions. For example, one of my students ran into this exact problem.
She is an incredibly skilled and talented artist, and she did a great job of matching the photo. She can see the aerial perspective in the photo, which is the effect of the atmosphere making the colors cooler and lighter as they recede into the distance. She executed it flawlessly in her painting.
But the photo was taken in a stormy day, and the colors are too dark and dull. The painting looks stormy and flat, and it does not convey the feeling that she wanted. She wanted to paint a sunny and cheerful scene, but the photo misled her.
The Solution: Lighten and Vary the Colors and Values as You Go Farther Away
So, how can you avoid this problem and improve your landscape painting? How can you create a painting that reflects your own vision and mood, and not the photo’s? How can you create a painting that has depth, dimension, and movement?
The answer is simple: You have to lighten and vary the colors and values as you go farther away. You have to use your own judgment and creativity, and not rely on the photo too much. You have to think about the feeling that you want in your painting and adjust the colors and values accordingly. You adjust how you paint the photo.
Here are some tips and steps to follow:
Choose a good photo. Not all photos are suitable for painting. You need to choose a photo that has good lighting, contrast, and composition. You also need to choose a photo that matches the feeling that you want in your painting. For example, if you want to paint a sunny and cheerful scene, choose a photo that has bright and warm colors, not a photo that has dark and cool colors.
Lighten and vary the colors and values as you go farther away. You need to lighten and vary the colors and values as you go farther away from the foreground to the background. You need to create the aerial perspective, which is the effect of the atmosphere making the colors cooler and lighter as they recede into the distance. But you don’t have to copy the photo exactly. You can use your own judgment and creativity, and make the colors and values lighter and more varied than the photo. This way, you can create a painting that has depth, dimension, and movement, and that reflects your own feeling and mood.
I hope you enjoyed this blog post and learned something new about improving your landscape painting by not copying the photo exactly but adapting the color.
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below. And if you want to see more of my work and learn more about my teaching, please visit my website. Thank you for reading and happy painting!