Landscape painting on location can be a very rewarding practice, though it can also present some challenges due to the ever-changing nature of the landscape and the elements. In this series, eight landscape artists from our Year-Long Online Landscape Course share their methods and top tips for landscape painting on location; from navigating colour to experimenting with composition, as well as tips on how to prepare your materials in advance for portability.
Paul Lewin drawing in Zennor, West Cornwall.
“When gathering information in the landscape I travel light. I walk with just a sketchbook and a couple of soft B grade pencils. When something grabs my attention, I stop and make a drawing. I keep my drawings simple and the marks fresh by not overworking them. By looking and making drawings, I will get a feel for the area, and this introduces me to the landscape.”
Paul painting near Porthcurno, Cornwall.
“When you are outside, the landscape is so huge it’s sometimes hard to know where to start. So I recommend spending some time sitting and thinking about what you are interested in, and what you want to portray before you start. Once you have warmed up with a few sketches, and have the compositions worked out, you can start painting.”
Paul’s Tips
- Decide on a focal point and where the edges of your drawing are going to be.
- You don’t have to fit all of the landscape in, select a smaller section of it.
- Rough out the big compositional shapes.
- Put in the main tonal values, where the light and dark areas are. Try squinting to eliminate the details.
- Use a range of different directional marks to describe the different areas such as soft and flowing for the sea and hard and linear for the cliffs.
- Keep the energy in your marks.
- Try not to overdo the drawings, less is more.
Year-Long Online Landscape Course
The year-long online course has contributions from 16 respected landscape painters, each sharing filmed demonstrations. The artists have devised over 80 exercises for participants to complete alongside studio visits, professional development, and interviews. The pre-recorded course is delivered online over six sessions, directed and hosted by Anita Reynolds. The course is designed to be experienced from the comfort of your own studio/home, and with 18 months of access, you can really make the most of the wealth of information, exercises and tips from all of these respected landscape artists
Uniquely, the course also includes over 40 looped films of the locations these artists often visit for participants to paint from; of the coastline and moorland around Cornwall and Devon. There’s amazing drone footage, guidance, and countless tips on how to energise and improve your landscape painting practice.
View the Year-Long Online Landscape Course here.