Blondheim Art Original Landscape Painting

8x10 inches
acrylic on panel
500.00

Silver or gold frame
Purchase HERE



Painters Tip

If you are trying to match local color in your painting think about the following:

Is the local color darker or lighter than the color I have mixed? I like to hold my brush out in front of the object I'm painting to see if the value is correct.

Is it more neutral, or more intense than my mixed color? This one is tough because our personal style and vision effects the way we see color intensity. I tend to see more color saturation than some other painters do. It is very hard for me to be tonal and much of the tonal paintings I see seem dull and bland to me.

Is it colder or warmer? I am referring to color temperature here not air temperature. Looking at the color wheel, is the green you see more red or more blue? The red, yellow orange tones will be warmer than the cool bluish greens.

Consider these questions when you are mixing your paints, especially when you work from life.

Blondheim Art Florida Trail Original Painting

24x24 inches
oil on canvas
1800.00
Purchase HERE

Painters Tip
Working With Commission Clients

Commissions are a lot more work and hassle than doing paintings to sell in galleries or your studio.

Clients have an image in their minds that you cannot know. It is very important to have excellent communications skills, and to be willing and able to leave your ego at home while working on commissioned paintings. You are the artist and instinctively know what works with paint and what does not, and you have your own unique vision for your work, or, in other words, your "style". This does not always work with their vision. In fact, it seldom does. You are happily painting along on the painting thinking to your self, "this is really going well". You show the stage to the patron and they are not at all happy with the version so far. It's time to put your ego aside and really listen to their thoughts and possible changes.

Remember, this is about them, not you. You cannot possibly understand the emotional connection they have to the painting. This is just another paycheck for you, but for them, it is a visual segment of their life, to be treasured. Take the time to listen and make the changes to please them. They are counting on you and have put their faith and hopes into your skill and discernment. Don't let them down by brushing them off or hurrying through the project.

Blondheim Art Original Oil Landscape

12x16 inches
oil on panel
silver or gold frame
800.00
Purchase HERE

Painters Tip
Acrylic Palette

I discovered a very easy way to have a palette for acrylics. I cut a mat board 8x10 inches. I bought a box of the clear plastic paper protectors which fit in notebooks from the office supply store.

I slide the neutral colored mat board into the protector. I spray the top with water mixed with a few drops of retarder in the water. I then put small blobs of paint at the top. I spray over the paints again to seal them in moisture. I mix my paints away from the original blobs of paint. When the bottom of the palette gets crowded and the blobs run out, I can flip the palette over and begin again on the fresh side. After both sides are used, I slide the plastic sleeve off, discard it and slide the mat board into a fresh sleeve.

I've been using these palettes both in my studio and on location in my pochade box for at least a year. They work so well. No scraping paint off a palette and no mess.

Blondheim Art Indian Pass Palms Painting

24x24 inches
oil on canvas
silver frame
1800.00
Purchase HERE

Painter's Tip
Managing Your Palette

I get emails asking me about how I manage my palette?

My system is simple. I line the paints up at the very top of my palette in ribbons of color, not blobs. The ribbons allow me to pull paint off the end and move it further down on the palette for mixing. I keep the white at one end, separated from the other colors. It is the easiest to contaminate. If I am using a split primary palette I keep the warm and cool version of each color side by side, so I will have two yellows, two reds and two blues.

I pull the end of the ribbons off and move them down on the palette to make my color mixtures. When it gets too crowded with mixtures, I take a paper towel and wipe down the palette, leaving the original ribbons at the top of the palette untainted. I just rub the paint into the palette until the surface of the paper towels are clean. This keeps the palette oiled and smooth as glass. Then I can start mixing again on a clean palette.

A clean palette surface makes for clean crisp color mixing and minimizes mud.

More on palette managing tomorrow........

Blondheim Art Landscape Painting

30x40 inches
oil on deep gallery wrap canvas wired and ready to hang.
unframed
2300.00
Purchase HERE

Painters Tip
What Frame to Use

Framing is the worlds biggest pain and mystery. You can never satisfy buyers. I have gone through so many styles and widths of frames I can't even remember all of them.

For most of my gallery paintings I use gold or silver metal leaf wide simple frames. Using frames which are not offensive is the best way to sell in galleries where the buyer has no choice but to purchase the painting as is. The KISS rule applies here. Don't go overboard with ornate frames or multicolored mats. Keep thing fairly neutral so that the framing will work with a variety of decorating styles in homes.

For my studio patrons and commissioned paintings, I have the luxury of working with my client to allow them to choose a moulding and custom size for their painting. If they don't like the ones I have in stock, I put them online to see mouldings from the various frame companies I work with. I can get them a frame within a week and they always appreciate the extra effort I go to to help them choose properly for their own home and decor.

Offering this extra service helps them and is no trouble for me.

Blondheim Art Original Landscape Painting

18x24 inches
oil on canvas
silver frame
Purchase HERE

Painters Tip
Choosing Equipment

I don't know about you but I can never get just the right set up in my studio or on location. I am always fiddling around with paint boxes and easels. I have three easels in the studio. Two are simple wooden mast easels, which I use for workshops. The other is a larger easel which runs up and down on a metal rod for adjustment, but has some sort of extension on the back to change the angle of the easel slightly. I don't really like it that much but it is well made, so I will keep it for awhile.

As for plein air, Oy Vey!!!! I have tried every kind of paint box and French Easel over the last 15 years. The French easels would be great if they did not fall apart after a year. I like the way they work and that I can put large canvases on them. Even the half box holds a large canvas. I just wish someone would invent a FE that actually holds together for a few years. If you know of one, please let me know.

My favorite Paint Box is the Judson Plein Air Guerrilla Box. It is excellently made and lasts for years. My current box is at least 5 years old. I have looked at all of the others including the Open Box M system, which is of very high quality. The reason I like the Guerrilla Box is that everything fits in it and I have all of my paints brushes, solvent and paper towels right where I am painting. I don't have to carry extra boxes or bags to hold my stuff in. I can just carry the paint box and tripod and be ready to paint in about a minute.

There is also the aesthetic issue of equipment. I have to like the way something looks in order to paint well on it. I know that sounds crazy but whoever accused me of sanity? I like wood, and well made wood at that. I do not like aluminum or metal easels. They look cheesy. I could never paint on a Soltec easel because it is butt ugly. It's look offends me. Looking at a finely made paint box makes me want to work and to paint. Looking at a heavy wood easel in the studio makes me feel like a painter. I am an equipment snob. I like well made boxes, easels, brushes and good quality paints. I may drive a car with 170,000 miles on it and live in a trailer that is 30 years old, but I have good equipment. It is my job after all.

Here is what I suggest if you are just starting out as a painter. Spend some time researching various easels and boxes before you decide. Talk to lots of other painters about their equipment, what they like and dislike about it. Get brochures from various manufacturers. Go to art forums on the Internet and read what people say about various brands. Think about whether utility and function are more important than the quality or look to you. One of my friends likes a paint box brand that is functional but very cheaply made. I just don't like the way it looks. It looks flimsy to me and it turned over once when we were painting together. It is thin and does not hold any extra equipment, so she must carry lots of stuff in a bag. She doesn't care that it is flimsy. She likes the way it holds the panel and the work space on it better than my better made box. So you see? You must decide what is really important to you. There will be bad and good about each box or easel you look at.

Blondheim Art Orange Lake

18x24 inches
oil on canvas
silver frame
Purchase HERE

Painters Tip
Choose Favorite Places

I don't know about other plein air painters but I have my favorite places that I go back to over and over again. Monet comes to mind with his lilies and haystack paintings and the cathedrals . I don't know of any other way to thoroughly know a fine subject than painting it many times. If it is good enough for the first painting, it may deserve repeated efforts.

I have ten or twelve regular locations where I love to paint. They often have sentimental value to me as places I have known since childhood. They give me the "warm fuzzies" to paint there. I rotate through them and by the time I get back to them they are like new again. I see them with fresh eyes and great enthusiasm. We have an emotional history, these special places and me.

For a more practical reason, painting locations repeatedly gives me a chance to really understand the scene in front of me. Sooner or later I am going to hit the jackpot if I paint a scene often enough. I can experiment with lighting,palette, and new compositions because I know these places so well. I am very comfortable with my painting self.

Next time you go past a scene you have wanted to paint, add it to your list of favorites.

Blondheim Art Original Oil Painting Field

12x16 inches
oil on panel
Available at Paddiwhack Gallery HERE

Painters Tip
The Creative Process

Many people think that painting is all creative, right brained, or intuitive. I thought that as a young artist too. I hear artists say this all the time. In fact, the older I get and the more experience I have as a painter, the more I realize that painting is all about decision making and analytical considerations.

Composition is a very deliberate process and so is good design. Flying by the seat of your pants may seem romantic and artsy, but good painting skills will take you much further. I don't just mean for realist or representational art either. Good modern or non- representational art comes from careful consideration and planning as well.

Before you jump into your next painting, you may want to take some time to plan with pencil and paper and to mix a palette in advance. Think about possible compositions and do thumbnails until you get it just right. Think about each step of the painting, stopping to rest your mind and eyes before continuing. Let the painting develop at it's own speed.

Most of the time I have two or three paintings going at once in the studio. Right now I have 5 in various sizes and stages and I'm in no rush to finish any one of them. I work on them a bit each day and move on to the next one. Letting them percolate and find their muse makes for a better painting.

One of the bad things about plein air painting is the habit you can get into of feeling like you must always do alla prima work and rush through paintings. That is a mistake. Small works are fine that way but it should not be the only method you are using to paint. Careful deliberation and letting a painting develop over time is a good balance. Both methods are better than one or the other. When I stopped doing only plein air, alla prima work, and added some studio work, my paintings improved very quickly. I think of it as the best of both worlds.

Blondheim Art Original Oil Painting Palms

This Week's Ebay Painting
10x10 inches
oil on deep gallery wrap canvas
Painted a solid color on the sides and wired ready to hang unframed.
View Here

Painters Tip
Saving Paint

I keep what I call a mud pile on my palette. At the end of each day, I scrape all of the paint into one pile and mix it up. Depending on my palette it is usually brown , gray or green. I clean off the rest of the palette, leaving the pile for the next day. I use the pile for block ins and for neutral areas of the painting I am working on the next day. It is a great way to save paint. It works very well for tree trunks too. It also is useful for toning canvases or panels before painting. If I have too much to use up, I put it in a small glass jar with a lid, so that it will last. This saves money in the long run and keeps paint from getting thrown away. Oil paints are expensive, so the mud pot is great.

Blondheim Art Paintings from the Florida Trail

12x16 inches
oil on panel
silver frame
800.00
Purchase HERE




Painters Tip


Thematic Interest


One of the things that keeps me excited about painting is my life outside of the world of art. I am interested in lots of thing and those interests feed me with painting ideas. For example, I joined the Florida Trail Association last year and they asked me to be their artist in residence for 2007. I went to their conference last week and demonstrated painting, looked at all of the wonderful exhibits about the wild places in Florida, saw a fellow who had hiked the trail, and so forth. It was so great that I was inspired to start a series of paintings about the places on the Florida Trail. I will be able to do many paintings over the next several months and I look forward to my project.

If you are wondering what to paint and are uninspired, let your life interests provide your subjects. The old saying "Paint what you know" is very true. I always paint my best work when the subject relates to me personally in some way. It can be your neighborhood, your children, your pets, your land or the land you travel to. What about your own back yard? I am a Florida native and nothing inspires me more than the flora and fauna of Florida. I love painting this state.

I know there are places and events which you have experienced, which have left deep and lasting memories for your life. Those places and events are waiting for you to record. We are the historians of our culture and time.

Blondheim Art Landscape Painting Wekiva Sand Lake Palms

14x18 inches
oil on panel
silver frame
1000.00
Purchase HERE






Painters Tip

I finally got to paint in my studio today, after having been on the road and getting the college kids sent on their way back to school.

Yesterday I started using a new medium, Garrett Copal Medium Heavy. Yesterday, I was leaning toward the Gamblin Alkyd, but after having used the Garett medium all day, I am really starting to like it. For one thing the color is very rich with this medium, more jewel like , and the paint handling is fantastic. The paint sets up beautifully on both canvas and panels and you can work for a long time without any overworked areas. I am becoming a fan. I wasn't sure it was going to be worth the investment but I am sold.

They are both excellent mediums.

A word of caution here. Before you go out and order expensive products, wait until you are a competent painter and are able to put together a decent painting without anything but your solvent. You can buy the most expensive brushes, fine linen, canvas, birch panels, expensive easels and top line paint, but unless you have mastered the craft of painting competently, all of those things will do you no good at all. Good paints, supports,brushes and mediums will enhance a good painter's work, but will do nothing to improve a bad painting. Learn to paint well, then invest in top line products.

Blondheim Art Original oil landscape painting Palms

12x16 inches
oil on panel
800.00
gold frame
Purchase HERE




Painters Tip

I've been experimenting with a couple of mediums in the last couple of weeks. The first is Gamblin Alkyd Medium, supplied by my workshop sponsor Central Florida Office Plus in Gainesville, Florida. it is nice to get samples to try before you commit to a product. I really like this medium and will purchase some more when I run out.

The other arrived today via USPS and it is fairly expensive but I've heard about it for years so I was ready to invest $40.00 for a large bottle . It is Garrett Copal Medium, made by Ron Garrett. I gave it a whirl this afternoon for a bit of painting and I like it. It is darker color than the Gamblin but works in a similar way, to set the paint up nicely and make it stay where you put it. it is a bit thicker than I prefer but I think it will work fine.

I'm not really sure which one I will like the best but I am leaning toward the Gamblin because it is lighter in color and a bit thinner, just right for mixing into paint. It dries quickly too.

Try seeing if your local art supply dealers have small samples of products which you can try before investing a lot of money.

Blondheim Art Original Oil Landscape Painting Palms

This Week's Ebay Painting
View HERE
10x10 inches
oil on deep gallery wrap canvas
Paynes Prairie Palms







Painter's Journal

This month has been too crazy, even for me. After having been on the road for most of the month, I came home to 6 college kids camped out in my studio on spring break from my daughter's school. I have been trying to work around them but it is impossible to paint this week so far. I am catching up on paperwork and working with artists as a career consutant this week. As long as I can get to my notebook computer I'm OK. They will be gone tomorrow and I will get the studio back together and start painting again. You know, I think I am a person who likes routine and order. I don't function as well with extended chaos. Especially disruption in my studio, which is the equivelant to sacred ground. It represents safety and happiness to me and I get territorial about it. I know it is childish :>)

Painters Tip

You should be able to stop a painting at any step and it should read as a well-thought out composition, enjoyable at that stage even if never finished. Of course you will finish it but I'm talking about the structure and composition as being able to stand alone without embellishments. If the block in and middle stages look poor, you will need to think about what is bothering you and do some correction before going further. If you don't know what is wrong, then put it away for a day and look at it again. You may see the problem after you allow your eyes and mind to rest.

Blondheim Art Wekiva River Oil Painting Landscape

Wekiva River

14x18 inches

oil on birch

1000.00

silver frame

Purchase HERE

Painters Journal

Linda Blondheim Workshops

Design and Composition II

Linda Blondheim Studio
Saturday September 15, 2007
9 AM-5 PM
Continental Breakfast and Lunch Included
For those of you who have taken my Design and Composition Workshop, this one is more detailed. It is an intensive look at the design elements which make up good art. You won’t want to miss this opportunity to learn and study good design.
75.00



Design and Composition II Plein Air

Saturday, November 10, 2007
9 AM-5PM
Snacks and Beverages included
65.00
For those of you who have taken my Design and Composition Workshop, this one is more detailed. It is an intensive look at the design elements which make up good art. You won’t want to miss this opportunity to learn and study good design out on location.

Oleno State Park in North Central Florida

Painters Tip


More on Fundamentals


How can artists use color?

To give spacial quality to a pictoral field

Color can substitute for values to create depth

Color can give a counter balance of backward and forward movement in pictoral spac

Color creates mood and can be symbolic

Color can express emotion and personal feelings both positive and negative

Color can direct a viewer's attention to lead him/her through a composition

Color can appeal through a well ordered system of color relationships

Color can create the level of importance in major and minor elements in a composition.

Blondheim Art Original Landscape Painting Palms

8x10 inches
acrylic on linen
silver frame
500.00
Purchase HERE





Artist Journal

I'll be away again for a few days to Umatilla Florida for the annual Florida Trail Association Conference. I am to be the Artist In Residence this year. it is very exciting and I'm looking forward to the event.

www.floridatrail.org

I'll be back to post on Monday, March 19th.

Painters Tip

more on design fundamentals...

Shape

Shape and Principles of Design

Balance

Control of attention

Direction

Duration or relative Dominance

Space

Pictoral Depth- The plane

Planes and Volumes

Linear perspective also referred to as geometric perspective

Intuitive space

This is just an outline of the principles of shape. My tutorial will have much more detail but this info may be useful for you.

More on Fundamentals next week.......

Have a nice weekend and paint with joy.

Blondheim Art Original Oil Painting Wekiva State Park

Lake Prevatt
14x18 inches
oil on birch panel
silver frame
1000.00
Purchase HERE



Painters Tip


Continuing with Fundamentals of Art....

Here is a brief description of Form. In my workshop we go into much more detail of how design works for painters. I am in the process of writing a tutorial on design for the web site. It will be available this fall.


Form




Preliminary Factors of Organization

Picture Plane

Picture Frame

Positive and Negative Space




Principles Of organization


Harmony and Variety

Harmony
Repetition
Rhythm
Motif
Pattern
Variety

Balance

Symmetrical
Approximate Symmetry
Radial Balance
Asymmetrical Balance


Proportion

Dominance

Movement

Economy

Space

Blondheim Art Original Oil Painting

Wekiva River Kelly Park
12x16 inches
oil on linen
800.00
silver frame
Purchase HERE






Painters Tip





Art Fundamentals




I’m an old fashioned artist. I am dismayed that not many art schools teach good design fundamentals anymore. I have made it my quest to teach design because so few know anything about it these days. I have put together a workshop on the elements of design and composition for painters. Think of the elements of design as the skeleton of good painting.




Good paintings can be intuitive but are more often carefully planned and executed.




The nature of art includes Meaning, Form, Narration and Description, Illusion, Reality, the Artistic Experience and the components of design that make a work of art.




The term art comes from the Renaissance words arti and arte. Arti was the designation of the craft guildes of the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Art served both as a technical and interpretive record of the human experience. Art continues to fulfill this function in our society today. Art is a visual language and I have always felt that artists are recorders of our culture and society in each generation.



More on art fundamentals tomorrow.

Blondheim Art Original Acrylic Painting

Sand Lake Path
Wekiva River State Park
5x7 inches
acrylic on panel
115.00 unframed
Purchase HERE





Artist Journal

Well the frantic pace has finally caught up with me. My studio is a wreck after having so carefully organized and cleaned it before my trip. It has frames and equipment scattered willy nilly and is in complete disarray. My car is still full of stuff and I have piles of dirty laundry. There are paintings to ship today and paintings that need to be finished. I leave for Troy Alabama on Wednesday, coming back the same night and then leave again on Friday for Umatilla Florida to be the Artist In Residence for the Florida Trail Association Conference for the weekend. Right about now I'm dreaming of my annual beach trip.

Painters Tip

My above journal segues into an issue that professional artists have to deal with regularly. We are much in demand for our time. We have many more opportunities to show and be shown as artists than time permits. It is difficult to say no. We think things sound wonderful at the time we agree to do them but the schedule fills up and we begin to wonder why we make so many commitments.

Of course this happens to everyone in every profession, but I can only speak as an artist dealing with difficult time management issues.

My first suggestion is that you do a bit of thinking about what is in it for you, when you commit yourself to an event. Often there turns out to be no advantage to putting your work or yourself on display. Everyone wants you to be a part of their event but you must be discriminating about the career advantages. If you feel that the organization will bring in the type of patron that would be interested in your work, then do it. If it is just another event with little market for your work, think again before you commit. We all find it hard to say no but if you want to succeed in the art world you need to start learning to say no to club memberships, art festivals, art exhibits, committees etc. which will do you no good and sap your energy.

Blondheim Art Wekiva Trees

Wekiva Trees
8x10 inches
acrylic on panel
500.00

Silver Frame
Purchase HERE


Artist Journal


I'm back after a week of fun at the Wekiva State Park in Apopka Florida. My brain is completely fried. I managed to paint 13 paintings in 6 days, so I am pleased with the result. I think this was my all time favorite paint out. It was a beautiful setting and for the first time afforded the artists to live together in a community environment. Essentially, we went back to our youth and lived at camp for a week. It was the experience of a lifetime and I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Bill and Rachel Tibbits who were our hosts. Thank you so much for your generosity and kindness.

As a result of this paint out, I have decided to rebuild my other blog about paint outs in High Springs and make it a Florida Paint Out Blog. I will continue to add stories about our paint out adventures and to add new artists to the blog as I meet them.

More on the Paint Out to come.


Painters Tip


Traveling can be lonely for artists. We are isolated creatures due to our jobs, Getting to know other artists can help you pass the time when you are away from home. Make the effort to contact artists who may live near your destination. I like to stay in hotels rather than with artists or friends because I like my space and don't want to inconvenience someone else, however, it is nice to arrange to meet for dinner or lunch with other artists while you are in an area. Arranging to meet at museums or at galleries is always fun too. Just having a conversation with an artist friend while on the road can make you feel better if you are having a bad experience. That connection to the familiar and sharing with a friend who understands what you are going through is a special thing.

Combining My Painting Blogs

Friends,
You may notice that the blog has a slightly different look. I have discovered all the fun stuff on it.

To save time, I am combining my Landscapes of the South Blog with my Plein Air Blog and putting them both here in one Blog. Now you can read all of my journals about plein air painting and studio painting together.

I'll be back in a few days.

Blondheim Art Work In Progress

Evinston Florida
12x16 inches
oil on canvas

Not much time to paint in the last few days because of my trip, I'll finish this when I return. I'll show it to you all again when it is done.

Painters Journal

March is an exciting month for me. I will be surrounded by nature on my travels. I leave tomorrow for Wekiva Springs State Park to rough it for 5 days in a cabin with three other painters, no air conditioners, and a bathroom separate from the cabins. It' been a long time since I did that sort of thing. It will be an adventure. After Wekiva, I will take a fast run to Alabama to pick up my daughter and return just in time to head for the Florida Trail Association Annual Conference in Umatilla Florida. I will be doing painting demos there and enjoying all of the nature and hiking related activities for two days. I am very excited about that. There i s going to be an early morning hike on Saturday which I am looking forward to.

Posts will be few and far between for the next two weeks but I will do my best. If by some miracle, the parks have wireless Internet access, I will be posting. I truly doubt that they do.

Painters Tip

Framing For Paint Outs

I do few big paint outs each year here in Florida, Georgia or Alabama. I often get email from artists who don't know what to do about framing their work for paint outs. Many people don't realize that we must have all of our framing supplies, frames and equipment with us for these paint outs. Yes, we have to frame wet paintings, often from the trunk of our cars. The good promoters give us a frame shack to do our framing out of bad weather and such.

What I do to save time and be as efficient as possible, is to pre-wire my frames in the studio. I bring along the canvas holders with the screws and the point gun with me for panels, but the frames already have the hardware installed before I go. Most of my frames are wired for horizontal orientation but I always bring a couple for vertical paintings too. I bring the screwdriver to change them if I need to. I use a flexible point gun, which means that I can bend the points back to insert the panel or canvas. I put a blank panel in the frame and shoot the points in at the studio, then carefully bend the points back out to take out the panel. When the painting is done, I just drop it in the frame, bend the points back in place and hang it up to sell. It saves me a lot of time, when I really need to be painting rather than framing.

I always bring retouch varnish with me to spray the paintings before putting them in the frames. it is not a permanent varnish but will give the painting some gloss and protect it until the owner can later have it varnished when it is completely dry. With acrylic, I put a coat of gloss glazing medium over the surface and then frame.

Lastly, I bring labels with me that say either oil painting or acrylic and my number and web site. I order them online.

Never let a painting get away from you without some kind of contact information on the back. Remember, most art buyers collect more than one painting from an artist.

Blondheim Art Flowers in Glass Vase

8x10 inches
oil on panel
gold or silver frame
500.00
Purchase HERE

Painters Tip

The above painting is of some leftover flowers from my recent workshop about painting flowers. They are starting to droop and fade a bit but I still found them to be a fun subject.

Flowers and glass just seem to go together. Glass makes a challenging and fun subject. First consider the geometric shapes of the glass jar or vase. Rectangular, square, or cylindrical? I block in that basic shape first. Remember that glass is really just the colors inside of it or around it. Clear glass is not really it's own color but what it reflects from other objects. Try not to think of it as glass, but rather the shapes and colors that you see.

Blondheim Art Painting Exercise

8 1/2 x 11 inches
acrylic on index paper

Painters Tip

Where should we focus the interest in a landscape painting? This is a good question that bears consideration. I do a little exercise with my students at workshops. Most of the time painters don't even think about how to manage the focal area of a painting. Most painters automatically put their area of interest in the middle ground. You can get some pretty interesting compositions by focusing on the foreground of a painting.

Some ways of focusing on the foreground include minimizing the middle and distant areas, using more intense color and texture in the foreground, and placing major compositional elements in the foreground. Don't forget cropping as a possibility too.