Here are ten tips to help you avoid common mistakes which makes for a more enjoyable painting experience.
I love creating sunny artworks that can be hung in a modern cottage or lovely little home. My artworks reflect my love of color, line and anything coastal . I adore and am influenced by patterns, color, nature, texture, and living a carefree life. I am influenced by my time spent on the Lake Erie islands during the summer months.
So you want to know how to start painting landscapes in acrylics? Landscapes are one of my favorite things to paint, especially of Lake Erie and the islands. The scenery along the lake fills me with joy, and painting it makes me feel like I’m there.
As a high school art teacher for the past sixteen years, I have taught landscape painting in acrylic almost every year. Here’s a couple of my favorite tips and techniques I give to my students. These are all lessons I have personally experienced and learned along the way! I hope they help you to create a landscape that you truly love and are proud of!
Getting Ready to Paint Your Landscape
Before you start, it’s helpful to find a picture you love, have materials ready, and know how to begin.
How to find a picture reference that inspires you
One of my favorite ways to find a reference is to go through my photos and find any landscapes that I love and would love to paint. This could be based on the composition (the arrangement of the image), the colors, the feelings I get when I look at the image, etc. I usually have a photo reference to use as a starting point. I don’t always stick to it but it’s nice to use for values, colors and composition.
Supplies, Supports, and More
Now that you have a picture, the next thing is to make sure you have your paints and mixed media sketchbook ready. My acrylic paints are usually Liquitex or Golden brand. I make sure to have at least the primary colors (red, blue and yellow), and I use lots of white for my pastel-like paintings. I don’t use a black paint because I prefer to make my own by mixing reds and greens together.
I usually begin by practicing in a mixed media sketchbook because the time spent makes a difference. Then I work on watercolor paper or a gallery wrap canvas for my final landscape painting. You might want to do a sketch or several sketches in your sketchbook before beginning on a larger canvas. My grandma always used to tell me “Small paintings, small problems. Big paintings, big problems.” This is so true! So you might want to work out major issues in your sketchbook before beginning on your final larger surface.
Acrylic Landscape Painting Techniques | Saturday Oct 14 2-5pm
Discover landscape painting techniques in this workshop: scumble, impasto, stipple, and more. Explore Group of Seven and Monet’s styles, and if you choose, bring your own photo to create vivid landscapes of your own!
Acrylic Landscape Painting Techniques | Saturday Oct 14 2-5pm
with Lauren McKinley Renzetti
In this workshop, we will be learning many paint techniques that help create a landscape. Techniques we will try are scumble, graduated blend, stipple, spatter, dry brush , impasto paint with a palette knife, schlapitka and sgraffito. We will create a constructed landscape and then work from some images by the Group of Seven and Monet to explore traditional and more direct techniques of landscape painting. IF you have a photo you want to work from that is also welcome.
*This class requires 4 participants to run.
ARTiculations student are offered a one time 20% off coupon that can be used towards your materials list! See Materials List Below
MATERIALS LIST
- brushes,- 2,6,10 round taklon , ¼” flat,1/2 flat hogs hair
- palette knife
- Acrylic paint. Here are my suggestions: white, black, (phthalo) blue, (sap or hookers) green are musts, other colours yellow, red and ultramarine blue
- Palette for the paint
- landscape photograph to work from
ARTiculations will provide basic surfaces, paper towel, water containers and handouts.
REGISTRATION POLICY in a nutshell
All ARTiculations workshops require advance registration, unless otherwise noted. In the event of insufficient enrolment, registrants will be notified prior to the workshop start date and a full refund will be given. No refunds/credits will be provided for withdrawal fewer than one week prior to the start of class. ARTiculations does not provide make-up classes or substitutions. This policy is subject to change without notice.
