Looking at Landscapes
What is a landscape?
A landscape is a picture of a countryside or the natural world. It usually shows trees, mountains, fields, and sometimes people or animals. Paintings of cities are called cityscapes; paintings of oceans are called seascapes. Landscape paintings usually have a foreground, a middle ground, and a background.
What is the part of the landscape where we, the viewers, are usually standing?
We are usually standing in the front, or foreground.
Why is the action often in the middle ground?
The middle ground, between the foreground and the background, often contains the “story.” It is between the viewer and the setting.
What makes the background seem far away?
Objects in the background are smaller and less brightly colored than those in the foreground. Their colors are also cooler and dimmer.
What is the mood, or feeling, of the landscape?
Landscapes evoke feelings, such as happiness, danger, activity, or coldness. Notice how color helps create mood.
What impact do vertical, horizontal, and diagonal lines have on the landscape?
The vertical lines of trees and figures and the horizontal lines of mountains stabilize a landscape. Diagonal lines show action. Diagonal lines may point to parts of the picture the artist wants us to notice.
What balances the composition?
Mountains, large trees, and figures often balance each other. Combinations of light and dark colors and repetition of shapes also help unify the picture.
How does an artist create perspective, or the illusion of distance, in a landscape?
- Size: by making objects in the foreground appear larger and more detailed.
- Color: by making distant objects appear paler and close objects appear brighter.
- Overlap: by having foreground objects partially block out things behind them.
- Placement: by placing closer objects lower on the page.
- Vanishing point: by having lines converge to a vanishing point.