Layers of Meaning

Landscape Meditations

Right now I am working on a series of landscapes using thread painting. That's from my sketchbook (left). I'm trying to extend a painterly vision into a new realm. This has me struggling with the basics: how to create a realistic landscape within a hard-edged medium. To be specific: how to get the distant hills to move into the background and stay there (where they belong!) and at the same time, how to create some crisp edges (my piece is looking a bit mushy)

The Smithsonian has two resources:
first - a tutorial on landscape painting that they created for use in the classroom. (see below)
second - a virtual tour through American landscapes, giving lots of insight of how these principles are applied.

From Landscape Painting: Artists Who Love the Land
1. A winding path.
A path or river that winds through the landscape from foreground to background can make us believe that the picture describes a deep space.

2. Changes in size.
A tree that is close to us appears much larger than a tree of the same size that is far away.

3. Overlap.
A boulder that is close to us overlaps and partially hides a much larger cliff behind it.

4. Changes in clarity.
A distant mountain range appears more hazy and less distinct than a mountain that is closer.

5.Diagonal composition.
Land that moves away from us on the diagonal appears to move back into space.