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| 'Unexpected Beauty' 8x10 pastel ©Karen Margulis purchase painting on Etsy $145 |
2. Landscape painters have the ability to share their vision with others through their paintings. There is nothing more satisfying than having someone look at your painting and express joy and surprise....and thanks for pointing out the beauty they missed.
3. Landscape painters can improve and rearrange nature to make a better statement. If it is our job to show the beauty and wonder of our natural world then sometimes we need to show it off it's better side. Photographers have to work with what is there....painters can make changes and rearrange things! I love this ability. Here is a little story and painting to illustrate this point:
A couple of years ago my artist friends and I were driving across Kansas on our way to Jackson Wyoming. We saw a sign for a lavender farm and since we break for beauty....we got off the highway and found our way to the farm. We were disappointed though. The lavender either wasn't quite in bloom or had seen better days. That didn't stop me from taking some photos. (we did find some wonderful dragonflies!)
But since I am a landscape painter and not a photographer....I had the opportunity to paint the lavender field the way I imagined it would look in it's prime. If I wanted the lavender to bloom I could make it happen. All I needed were some purple pastels!
Using my boring and uninteresting photo, I did a black and white thumbnail sketch and then blocked in my painting with four values of purple. I used a combination of Diane Townsend and Terry Ludwig pastels for the painting. I have used these reference photos to paint several Lavender paintings. In each one I have rearranged things and made the flowers bloom. It's great to be a landscape painter!
3 comments:
wonderful article. Loved the idea of rearranging nature. thanks. Your blog is so helpful. Keep up the good work.Jean
This is what I love about being an artist in general Karen. I always knew I loved the landscape but I never really knew why until I studied art and now I love and appreciate it more than ever, I'm not just looking anymore, I am seeing. I have a friend who's an amateur photographer and while he see's more than most people I'm teaching him how much he's still missing gradually through our discussions. He's starting to understand know how painters have an advantage in some ways.
This is so beautiful!I am still afraid of landscape but you inspire me to try :)
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