What is landscape painting?

 

The article, Art History: The Evolution of Landscape Painting and How Contemporary Artists Keep It Alive by Kelly Richman-Abdou on May 28, 2017, claims that landscape painting (or landscape art) refers to an artistic genre defined by a focus on natural scenery as subject matter. Landscape paintings can depict a variety of settings, such as mountains, forests, rivers, and beaches. They often offer a wide view of the scene, and usually place some focus on the sky.

 

Why paint the landscape?

 

Artists choose landscapes as their subjects for a variety of reasons. In addition to wanting to represent or replicate their obvious beauty, some artists opt to create these depictions to study and explore various aesthetic elements, like light, color, and texture. Additionally, some artists also use scenes of nature as a way to tell a story, illustrate an idea, or conceptualize a metaphor. (Richman-Abdou)

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I watched many landscape painting tutorials and several of the painters expressed that landscapes were a great way to test new techniques and materials.

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Just an FYI, when you make any of the final projects for this class it is best to use images that you photographed yourself. If you don't have an image you took yourself you should use royalty-free images. These images are free to use for any image you want to create. I mix and match the images I use to create my own vision.

 

When you use images that you find online you run the risk of getting sued for copyright. It is okay to use someone's image to practice your skills but you can't take someone else's image and take credit for being the authentic artist. Shepard Fairey was sued for using another person's photo as a reference for his Obama "Hope" poster. He did not give the photographer who produced the original image credit.